Alice can't remember
by the frowning Chesire Cat
Summary: Alice got left in the human world when she was born in Wonderland. She was on the run from the Queen with Hatter and Ches when a dangerous situation forced Chess to leave her in the human world for safety. Now they need Alice back. Will she remember them? okay the story gets good after you get to chapter three, so don't judge until then. Also its my first fanfic. Includes sarcasm
1. Chapter 1

The trouble started with a boy. His name was Lewis Carrol. The most unbelievable thing was that he was able to cause trouble and he wasn't even from Wonderland. He is what you would call a fuzzi. Fuzzi's are people who don't see the world right, people who are different. It would all be different if I didn't leave Alice in the fuzzi world. She wouldn't have met him and a lot of people would be happier. So yes, it is safe to say Lewis was started it.

**Grace (a random wonder lander)**

"Grace, wake up or you won't make it to school."

My mother's voice was high pitched with a slight monotone, just like every wonder lander. I groaned and after much persuading in my mind I decided to get up. There was talk of a gathering at school. Maybe this time it would be a good one. Usually it was something silly like how to get rid of fire or to make friends. These things require no thinking. Just talk politely and use complements and fire will leave, same with making friends.

Very rarely they have something good like the famous Marigolds coming to sing. I sighed; I did need to get up.

I pulled on my dress and tied my ribbons tightly. Then I pulled on my glass shoes. My grandmother gave them to me and told me the story of when she got them, Frabjors Day.

She used to tell me stories of how the Miracle Giver would come out and give miracles to everyone on Frabjors Day. Most of the time it was good luck but you could get something good every once and a while. My grandma was lucky and got a pair of glass shoes that would fit the wearer no matter how big their feet get. My friend said that her grandmother got a necklace that would change color depending on the mood you were in. I didn't belive her. I mean, even fuzzi's can dream about it but it won't happen.

I asked my mother why they didn't have a Miracle day anymore, and she said _Corrupters _misused them and tried to take over Wonderland. I never asked why because _Corrupt _is a forbidden word.

When I was 7, I asked my father when Frabjors Day was, but all he said was it was a very special day and don't tell anyone about Frabjors Day.

"GRACE!"I heard my mother. "Coming." I yelled back.

I only just had time to chug down a cup of tea and bread. I met Pamela at the fork in the road and we set off for school.

We walked in just as Marchy erm, excuse me _Principal Hares _watch went off. "You're late. Very late. Now hurry or you'll miss the gathering. That was strange. We're talking about a guy who is always worried. Even about the smallest things like dust. I'm not saying dust isn't interesting, it's just weird to see this guy so excited.

We took our seats in the back of the room but what was different was no one was talking. Then I noticed the Council of the Caterpillars. Everyone was there. Each letting off colorful steam. This must be a very important gathering.

That only leaves the question, why were they here?

**You know the drill, what does every other author say? REVIEW. Feel free to give me pointers, this is a work in progress.**


	2. Running

**Hey peoples, I decided to write again. I won't have a big apology because it won't make any difference to my readers (however few they are) I will say a thank you to ****symmetricalravenxx8 **

**Because without you I wouldn't have got an e-mail about you favoring my story. So you are the reason for this chapter.**

**Hatter**

I sipped delicately at my tea and simultaneously, threw the sugar bowl at my companions.

I didn't pay attention to who had tea with me today nor had I since the traitorous no good rotten two faced feline gave away Alice.

I remember that day vividly.

(_flash back)_

"_Run". Screamed Chess_. _They were on to us, we knew we were being followed but who knew they were this close? _

_We had stopped at a local inn to rest for the day. Now it was burning to meaningless ashes. The whole town was burning._

_I picked up 3 year old Alice who for once wasn't chattering to the birds about her daily life, which consisted of sleeping during the day, running at night, sleeping in trees. Chess swears she was half bird. _

_She looked at me with those wide eyes and grabbed her stuffed cat. _

_I took off._

_Chess was trying to distract the Cards. _

_I had to make it to the forest; we could easily loose ourselves in there. _

_An arrow whizzed past my head._

_I cursed then cursed again when I realized that Alice could hear every word I said._

_She looked up at me with an admonishing look._

"_Don't tell Chess", I begged. _

_Where was the forest, all I saw was smoke and burning buildings?_

_Wait, those weren't buildings, the forest was burning. _


	3. Raven

**I am on a roll. Well as a treat to symmetrical Raven xxxx, (you know who you are), I decided to name a character after you.**

**Alice p.o.v(come on people, how many Alice's do you know?)**

What a day.

I had just finished doing my homework and was in the process of getting ready for bed, when my lovely blonde headed sister barged into my room.

I was going to comment on it but let it go; she always came into my room without knocking.

"Ali, Ali, Ali…

Seriously, what made her so excited to repeat that dreaded name that haunted the contours of my soul, the one that was used for my pure destruction, it was so annoying, why couldn't she of call me Alice like normal person?

"Yes…" I said hesitantly.

"Jolie, said that her and Rick are going out of town for the weekend and you get to watch me and play games and take me to school and the park and the…"

My first thought was went something like this.

WHAT, DID JOLIE HIT HER HEAD, IS THE END OF THE WORLD HERE?WHAT?

Let me enlighten you to my thoughts. I was 4 when I was fostered cared into Jolie's home and to put it in a nice way is to say that I was no piece of cake. She should of got at least 10 times more than her annual foster care check.

I guess it started with the nightmares…, then the screaming, then the running…, then the crying.

The thing is I remembered the screaming and the running and the crying, but not the nightmares.

I just couldn't remember what made me so afraid.

Once she met Rick, who happened to be a physiatrist, things started to calm down. Still she put up with me for over a year until he came.

Then after a while I guess she felt ready to have another kid and fostered my blonde brained sister Raven. Did I mention she's Blonde?

Anyway, after she was old enough to walk we were diabolical. It was an odd pair, a 10 year old and an three year old.

We also happened to look quite alike. Even as we aged. I am now 16 and she is 9. The only difference was her striking blue eyes and my light brown.

We got into so much trouble. To this day we don't speak of the unspeakable actions that happened to include our now deceased fish, the T.V, and a trampoline. Ever.

We still didn't get along normally like other kids but at least we didn't hate each other. We rather enjoyed each other's company when Raven wasn't being dumb and I, and I quote Raven, am being a 'noxious grown-up.

So you could imagine I was surprised.

Jolie must have heard our conversation and peeped her head in.

"Well, what do you think?" she said nervously.

I wasn't opposed to the idea, I was after all sixteen.

"Just the weekend?" I asked.

"Just the weekend?" She reassured.

"Are you and Rick sure?"

She rolled her eyes and had the look of nostalgia on her face.

"Yes we had a long discussion last night, we think you are old enough to take care of yourself and Raven for at least a day or two. If not then you can call us."

"Alright, it might even be fun." I joked.

"YEESSS!" Raven yelled.

Jolie and I laughed. You couldn't help but love Raven.


	4. Pool of Tears

**Wow, my number 1 reviewer has stuck with me the whole time. I must admit I am surprised. I also dWhen I look at my chapters they seem pretty short, but then when I look at my word docs, there over 2 pages long. My longest chapter is 3 word document pages. Just thought I would throw that out there.**

Chess (the cat)

I drifted forward, in cat form to look in the reflecting pool or as locals call it the pool of tears or as I called it the looking glass.

I know it was shameful but I had to spy on the human world. Even just to see Alice for a few minutes. I usually couldn't manage any longer without the intense guilt.

_Chess( flash back )_

_I lay lightly on the soft goose feather bed. I hadn't slept on a bed in a long time. Not since before Alice. Had beds ever been this soft?_

_Man, Hatter must have some good connections. _

_We all slept soundly that night. _

_Bad idea. _

_The only thing that woke me was the high pitched whine of the Queens machines. _

_The machines are actually called that. No matter how evil the queen is she had good taste in rhyming. _

_The whining was too high for regular wonder landers ears, but my high superior, brilliant, awesome, downright cool ears heard it._

_I leaped up, I had to distract them. I couldn't believe they found us. After all the precaution we put into this. _

_I woke them up and they started to move. _

_I yelled "Run" as I went out the door. _

_I coughed as I realized that the building was burning_

_I searched wildly around the flames for the machines._

_There, setting fire to the mayor's house. _

_I yelled at them and waved at them so they would chase me. _

_Success. They stopped burning the town and followed me. I morphed into a man and high tailed it out of there. _

_I coughed into my coat. I had to meet Hatter and Alice at the forest. _

_I ran till I was on top of some sort of hill. I could see better here. _

_I gaped. Hundreds of Queen Machines were closing in on the area. _

_The forest was burning. Then it hit me. It would be near impossible to get Alice out of this mess. We were done for. _

_I squinted into the burning forest and saw Hatter and Alice heading passed the town square to get to the forest. _

_Wait, the town square had the Pool of Tears in the center. If we could get Alice through it then we were safe. She wouldn't go to prison, and we would have no proof that we were guilty._

_I blanched as I ran down from the hill. Hatter wouldn't like this, he was rather fond of Alice, I was too, but he and she had this special bond. _

_I would have to take Alice from him because he would never let her go by himself. "I mustn't tell him" I said to myself. I tried to tell myself that this was the best thing for her and she would be safe._

_I intercepted Hatter and told him to run into the forest and distract the Machines. He agreed and as soon as he was out of sight I took off back toward town._

_Alice looked at me with fright and question._

"_It's alright, you'll be okay. I'll find you again someday." It was imperative that Alice wouldn't be found by the Queen. _

_I skidded to a stop at the Pool of Tears. I set her down and took perimeter check. _

_Seems unnecessary due to our current predicament, but you never know._

"_Alright, Alice you have to hop into the water." I said quickly, who knows how much time we had._

"_Why"? Alice said in that cute little kid voice._

"_You'll be safe there, you find a home on the other side"._

_What she said next near broke my heart. _

"_Not without you and Hatter."_

"_Yes, without us. You will be safe there and in turn keep us safe."_

_She didn't look convinced._

_I sighed. "Alright, Alice here." I gave her my miracle necklace._

_It was in the shape of a card. The spades, clubs, hearts, and diamonds were each outlined with a precious stone. _

_The special thing with the necklace is that it will protect you from harm only in dire need. _

_I was a rowdy kitten/kid so my mother got it for me. _

_It has saved me so many times, let the record show, cats do not always land on their feet._

_She slipped it over her head and hugged me._

"_Go Alice." I said urgently. _

_She must have finally got the seriousness of the situation and stood up to jump._

"_Tell Hatter good bye."_

"_I will, and Alice, I will find you again." She nodded._

_She hugged me one last time and then I realized she was crying._

_Then to ruin the moment, Hatter came barreling down the lane, shouting at us. Then he saw Alice poised to jump._

_She hesitated. _

"_Go, Alice!"_

_And she jumped. "I will find you" I shouted as she slipped beneath the surface._


	5. Alice is coming home

**I was undecided of who's point of view to do this chapter from. But decided on Alice. She is Awesome. My last update was five word documents. I am on Fire. **

Alice

Jolie and Rick had just driven away and Raven was pulling on my hand to go play.

We watched T.V for like an hour, and then played Barbie's. By the time she got tired of that I was ready to gouge my eyes out.

When her stomach made what I considered an embarrassing growl, I was thanking every star in the sky that it was dinner time.

Personally I love Fridays, so I decided to do something junk food like.

Pizza and soda seemed like a good idea. I got food money out of the jar Rick keeps hidden behind the overdue Vanilla Wafers. I also grabbed a liter of diet coke from the fridge.

I got Raven and we got to work with the hearty task of inhaling the whole pizza box. I made sure she wouldn't drink so much soda as not to keep me up. As for me I must have drank half the bottle. Being the older sister does have its perks.

Raven started chattering about one huge play date with her friends and even renting a D.J.

Just as I was taking the glasses to the sink to be watched I saw a note Jolie had taped to the window above the sink. I scanned it quickly.

_Alice,_

_No junk food, don't think I don't know about the money you take out of Ricks overrated food money jar. There is some casserole in the fridge for you to heat up. No soda before bed either, do you really want to deal with a hyper sugar crazed Raven? _

I shuddered and continued reading.

_Also please take Raven to the park; you both need the fresh air. I don't care when you do it, it will take thirty minutes of your day. It can even be thirty minutes before we come home. And don't forget to ask Raven about HOMEWORK. She always procrastinates and avoids it. Make sure she does it. Have fun while were gone and no parties. Love you…_

_Jolie_

Crap. I really should have seen that note.

"Raven?" I said hesitantly.

"Yah?" she replied.

"Do you have any homework I should know about?"

"Ummm…"

_End of this p.o.v_

(While the pizza eating is going on in the human world, here is what's happening in Wonderland)

Chess (12-13 years after the incident with the pool)

For the first time in years I felt light.

Almost. I could almost manage a full transformation into a cat and back. I could almost float; I could almost be friends with Hatter again. Almost.

I had just received great news. The queen had withdrawn her Machines from the land of spades and hearts. The people would have more freedom and not be pushed around by the machines. The queen was vulnerable as soon as she withdrew her Machines from the rest of the lands. Which she planned to within the coming weeks.

She knew that she had won.

Or had she? She knew that Alice gone and not going to challenge her.

What she didn't know was that Alice has my necklace. With that she has the power to rule Wonderland. We needed to think of a plan.

We had to get Alice back.

It also means that I can visit Hatter without him constantly reminding me of the fateful day.

It would also be nice to not be mutilated with knives and other tea appropriate items, thrown by Hatter every time I went to his meadow.

I know what I have done was horrible and not be the easiest action, but hey; it was what I had to work with.

Sometimes I think Hatter doesn't think about how much I am grieving inside.

I was off to visit Hatter and actually have a plan.

Hatter

I was drowning myself in tea for the umpteenth time right before Chess entered my lair. My more manly side tells me that I shouldn't call a meadow a lair, but hey; Alice loved meadows.

She also loved tea. I would always try to get it for her whenever we stopped near a town.

The tea was good and bad. For one it reminded me of Alice, and two it reminded me of Alice.

I provided some closure and then some heart ache. Whatever the problem, I just couldn't get enough of it.

Anyway Chess entered my _lair._ He approached slowly and I let my hat fall over my forehead to give it the off kilter effect. It also wouldn't let him see my eyes. He reached the table and reached for a cup.

My companions, I think it was a rabbit and a mouse today, filled his cup. It then laughed manically.

My hat is a Miracle. You can't find them as easily before the Queen banned Miracle Day. The hat could reflect my emotions to some extent.

I guess I was going slightly mad and it was rubbing off on whoever joined me for tea.

Chess spoke first. But I didn't let him finish. I was furious with him.

"Hat- NO, YOU CANT SIT AT MY TABLE AND DRINK TEA JUST LIKE NOTHINGS WRONG, YOU LET HER GO."

"I'm sorr- DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE, JUST DON'T."

"Ali-." I threw a stick of butter his way.

Chess

Okay I was getting quite fed up. He was being utterly ridicules.

He just interrupts me when I could be giving him news of Alice. I could tell he was going to speak again.

"AND YOU COME WALTZING IN HERE ABOUT TO-"

"About too do what?" I dared him.

He looked genuinely surprised that I interrupted him.

"You have no idea what I've been going through. I am grieving just as much as you are and you don't even try to talk it out, you just throw bloody knives my way without a thought."

That shut him up.

"I could have news of Alice and you wouldn't care, just throw butter at the cat."

"Nooooooooo, he doesn't care, he is just expected to be your punching bag!"

"It's been over ten bloody years mate, you think someone would try to make things right and find the best course of action, not get intoxicated in tea."

He just looked at me.

"A normal person would try an apology." I hinted.

He was quiet for the next few seconds.

"Look, Chess I don't know how to voice my apology, I guess I've been a real jerk and Alice would hate the man I've become."

He looked up at me.

"And…" I prompted.

"I haven't really thought to ask how you feel and thought that maybe Alice would come back."

"This is where you actually apologize." I said annoyed.

He huffed.

"This doesn't mean that I am happy for what you did, but I am sorry and if you could possibly forgive me, then I would try to make it up in any way I could."

I looked him over. His companions at beside him drinking tea were all fighting tears. Even I could feel the self-loathing and sorry-ness of the situation. He did sound sincere.

I smiled and straightened his hat.

"I think it's time we get Alice back."


	6. Bananna Smiles

**Just to put this out there. I will do another Grace chapter; I just made the mistake of putting that chapter as chapter 1. I also want to make a shout out to for reviewing my story. I am glad that you like it and Jolie is the foster mom. And I am sorry if I gave the impression pizza was going to turn Raven into the Pizza Monster.**

**I also realized up until now some not smart people might think I own Alice and Wonderland. This is not the case. I would brag much more often if so. So I do not own wonderland.**

**That was the disclaimer.**

Alice

I was dreaming. I knew I was dreaming but yet I was in the dream. I was at the end of a long table drinking tea. There were people around the table too, the faces were blurred though. Somehow I knew what was going to happen next.

Strong hands lift me from my seat. We're running. We're climbing. I hear loud voices. I hit the cold earth and crawl under some sort of plant, maybe a mushroom? All is quiet. I am crying. Then a blurred face. Someone reaches out with a icy hand and grabs my arm. The tug is not gentle and I end up sprawling beneath the feet of my attacker. She pulls me up from the ground and I look into the blurred face of my attacker. Then I am being pushed out of the mushroom clearing by rough hands. I hear my name over and over being yelled. alice, Alice, ALICE, ALICE, ALICE…

"Alice, Alice…"

I wake up into the face of a very worried Raven.

"Are you alright? You were yelling and moaning…"

What?

I was on the floor, my blanket it wrapped around me.

I touched my cheek.

It was wet with tears.

Why was I crying? Then it hit me. It was the dream, the one that eluded me. Why couldn't I remember it? I knew something big had happened. Something more terrible then before. I could almost remember; it was on the tip of my tongue. Something to do with tea. Tea.

"I was going to call mom but then you woke up."

"Alice, are you okay?" Raven asked.

"Yes, sorry Raven. It was just a bad dream."

Raven looked at me with worried curiosity.

"Was it _the dream_ again?" The dream had been recurring every so often, but usually Rick was there to calm me down and gradually I hadn't had _the dream_ in years. But still Raven must of remembered it or Jolie had told her about it.

"Yes."

I wanted the conversation to end so I could have time to think.

I put on a smile. "Why don't we go to the park?" I might as well get that out of the way now. I could also try and remember what was so terrifying.

Raven smiled too, the dream already forgotten.

I made breakfast, which consisted of burnt toast and milk then told Raven to get her jacket while I got my headphones and iPod.

We set off for the park at ten.

I settled on a park bench while Raven made friends with whoever was at the park at this hour.

I listened to some music.

I was so absorbed in the music that I jumped when Raven came over.

She was leading over two boys about my age. Both looked like they were bursting at the seams with happiness. One of the kids had a freakishly big smile. I mean banana sized.

Seriously, did they just win the lottery?

I pulled my headphones out as they approached.

"Um, Alice these people, wanted to talk to you." Raven said uncertainly.

The one without the smile spoke first.

"Alice, we have been looking everywhere I missed you so much."

Then the other kid with the banana smile broke in.

"We need to get home now, Wonderland needs you."

I looked at them. They looked back.

Then the first kid grabbed my arm and hauled me up. Man, he was strong for a kid.

I looked at him with anger. Who did he think he was?

"Come on, we have to go, we don't know if it's safe here." He said looking around.

"Yah", the other kid agreed, "The man with the blue suit looks shady."

I looked to where he was gesturing. It was a policeman.

Seriously, was this a joke?

"Look I don't know who you are but I'm not going anywhere with you, or your happy-go-lucky brother." I told him.

I pulled away, grabbed Ravens hand and walked briskly back towards home.

I looked back over my shoulder.

I would have laughed if I wasn't freaked out. There expressions were gob smacked. They looked completely confused.

Then they started to run after us.

I turned a corner and then hid behind a big bush. I know lame hiding place but it was what I had to work with.

Raven and I looked on as they passed.

I turned to her.

"Who were they?" I asked.

"Did they do anything weird?"

She answered back. "I have no idea who they were but they came and asked if I was Alice."

Me and her both rolled our eyes.

We look a lot alike and after a while it starts to get annoying every time some bone head figured it out we were siblings and looked alike and started to mix up are names.

"I told him that you were Alice and that I was your foster sister. They seemed really happy when they saw me and even more happy when the saw you."

I nodded for her to continue. We had started to walk home the long way as to not run into the boys again.

"They kept saying how they finally found you and Wonderland was saved."

She stopped and looked up at me. "Alice, who were they?"

"I honestly don't know, but we aren't going to run into them again." I promised.

"Uh, Alice?" she pointed behind me.

I whirled around. There they were, the two kids running towards us.

"Oh come on…"

I grabbed Ravens hand again and ran towards a big group of tourists.

We leapt onto the tour bus just as it was leaving.

Safe.


	7. If you are reading this I thank you

**Thought I should say this. I am so happy I have another reviewer. It didn't even cross my mind you were being rude ****lydiathetigeropean I honestly liked that someone took the time to criticize my work. To Symetrical Ravenxxxxxooo I haven't figured out the personal message thing yet since this is my first fanfic, so I haven't managed to thank you properly. Oh and to everyone else I will continue with Grace point of view and if you didn't get it, in the last chapter, **

**The two kids were Hatter and Chess. They were in a magic disguise. **

**Oh and I would also like to mention my viewer that lives in Brazil. I love Brazil and means a lot that someone from there viewed my story. **

**And thank my new followers. **Supernaturalchick85 and **lydiathetigeropean. Please consider yourselves thanked. **

**Oh and to all the others that are there that I haven't been mentioned, I will thank you if you review your name. I will try to the best of my abilities. **

**I won't if this is a thousand hit story because that would take hours and hours and hours… HINT, HINT.**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter.**

**(You know I just make these up as soon as I sit down at the computer right, I am open to suggestions.)**


	8. Tarzan Style

**So after my awesome thank you, I am going to have a Rick and Jolie chapter. Just for kicks. I am still open to suggestions. I also heard that some writers listen to music while writing so what you are reading is the result of Jason Mraz singing his beautiful song "I won't give up". Oh and I dont know if I got Jolie's reactions right. Tell me what you think. I also dont know if anybody reads this so, mabye I should stop with these headers. So I don't have anything else to add except the disclaimer. Who really owns Alice in Wonderland? It's not me.**

**Jolie**

It was sunny when Rick pulled the car out. I took that as a good sign.

I wasn't sure I could trust Alice and Raven together. Alice had been a handful when she was younger. Raven was okay but a little energetic.

When they were younger they were capable of anything. Rick named them the destructive duo.

I bet you would be betting that a 10 year old and a three year old could be that bad together but I am sorry to say you would lose that bet.

Alice was strange before Raven came.

When I she first came to stay with me, she was odd. She wouldn't sleep on her bed. She would sleep under it. She was always afraid of something.

When I asked she said she didn't know, and soon she began to grow used to her surroundings.

When I first applied for a foster kid, I saw Alice's past history, or lack of it.

Apparently she was found by a river.

When she was taken to hospital on account of her being unconscious, the doctor's analysis had claimed she had hit her head and had some amnesia.

They had no way of identifying her. No necklace with her name, no worried calls to the police about a missing child. She wasn't even listed as a legal citizen.

It was like she suddenly appeared.

The only possessions she had were the clothes on her back, a ribbon to tie up her hair, and a necklace.

It was a pretty thing. It must have been expensive and Alice never took it off.

I think she still wears it even now.

When questioned, she said she had no parents. She didn't know who was with her before she was found.

She just knew that someone would find her. Her analysis stated that she stated that several times.

She was timid and scared of crowded places and was cautious around other people.

She didn't know how to explain her actions.

It took her weeks to get her to trust me.

She had nightmares.

They were terrible.

She always couldn't remember them.

Even after I met Rick he couldn't get her to remember.

Rick. He saved us. She stopped having those awful dreams and he made us so happy.

After we got married, we took in another foster kid. Raven.

Raven made us a complete family.

Although a little hyper she was pretty normal.

We soon found out how much Raven and Alice could do together.

Alice had no idea what not to let a toddler eat. Or to eat.

Once when I was taking a nap and before Rick came home from work they managed to build a highly unsafe and very probable of not working rope swing thing. But it did and that is why I remember it so much.

FLASH BACK

_What a day. I had just put Raven down for a nap__**. (Don't know if she is too old for naps but just go with it).**_

_She had been up with Alice trying to make some sort of magic pie. _

_Alice still thought magic things were around every corner. She even started talking to the cat next door. _

_She was quite put out when she finally realized that it could not understand her and just liked getting free rubs from her, and the occasional milk saucer._

_I put Alice to work with some puzzles. _

_I laid down on the couch and drifted off._

"_CRASH"__** (I don't like sound devices but I had to use one). **_

_I woke with a start. Where was that coming from?_

_I ran to Ravens room. Not there._

_Oh no. I started to sprint to Alice's room. Not there either. _

_I went to the kitchen. Not there either but as I passed the window, I saw them in the backyard._

_Crap._

_I ran out the back door just in time to see Alice go Tarzan swinging out of a tree. _

_The rope was made of bed sheets and other linins. _

"_What the-" I started._

_Then I stopped when I heard a giggle._

_Raven._

_I looked up in time to see Raven jumping out of the tree too. _

_Only she was tied to the bed sheets more securely than Alice. _

_I ran forward to catch Raven if she fell but the rope held. _

_I untied Raven and then remembered Alice._

_I whirled around to see her hanging from the nearby tree from which the make-shift rope was tied to. _

_I set Raven down and went to catch Alice._

_Then I saw one of her hands slip._

_She was hanging on by one tied bed sheet. _

_I saw it slipping; I knew I wouldn't reach her in time._

_I still ran lunging, superman style to possibly soften her fall._

_She fell._

_She screamed. But she just came short of the ground. Something stopped her like a cushion. _

_The necklace she always wears was glowing a soft blue._

_I blinked. _

_Alice was on the ground._

_Must have been a trick of the light._

_I rushed forward and checked her over looking for broken bones._

"_ARE YOU CRAZY? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, ROPE SWINGING FROM A TREE, WITH RAVEN?"_

_She looked pretty scared._

"_Well I didn't think I would fall." She said matter of factly._

_I shook my head in disbelief._

_Raven came over sucking her thumb._

"_Again, Again."_

"_No Raven, we are not going to do that again. You both could have been killed."_

"_Are we in trouble? "Alice asked in her Alice way._

"_Yes indeed you are, just wait until Rick gets home."_

_Speaking of which his car just pulled into the drive way._

_What was I going to tell him._


	9. Stealth Mode

**I am over 100 reviews. I am over the moon. So I am off of school now. But that won't do you any good. I am off on a cruise for about a week so I am trying to get in a lot of writing before then.**

**I thought you might be interested on how Chess and Hatter got to Earth or how they were disguised as kids. I hope you like my explanation on why they didn't get Alice to wonderland before now. If you give me a better alternative then I will change it.**

**Now I am not sure if I have to put a disclaimer in every chapter, but just to be sure I am going to end this with a sarcastic comment. **

**Yes I totally own Wonderland. It totally belongs to me, not Lewis Carrol the writer. Why wouldn't it belong to me? Kidding. It actually does belong to Lewis Carrol. I think.**

**Hatter**

He had a plan, he had a plan, and we were going to get Alice back!

I felt like dancing.

I was so excited that I almost missed Chess talking.

"Alright here's the deal, the queen is sure Alice is dead, you are insane, and I am under a rock somewhere. What she doesn't know that I Alice is not dead, and I am not under a rock somewhere."

I processed this.

"Hey… I am not insane." I paused, and then added in an undertone.

"Most of the time."

Chess just shook his head.

"Now, I sent Alice to earth through the Pool of Tears. I have found out through several years of watching her that she resides in New York in some place called America."

I nodded and thought a moment.

"So we need to get to this Amaric place right?" Chess nodded in confirmation.

"Yes, so since Alice being who she is can stop the queen. We can get to earth through the Pool of Tears."

I started to nod and then shook my head.

"Chess are you telling me we could have brought Alice back all these years?" I said through gritted teeth.

Chess looked at me long and hard.

"Hatter two reasons. First she is safe and the queen thinks her dead. She is settled and has a family. It was hard enough to get her through without alerting the queen, think of how hard it will be to get us through the Pool without alerting the queen.

She has spies everywhere."

That seemed an acceptable reason.

"What is the other reason?" He grinned sheepishly.

"I sort of forgot until she was settled."

I growled at him.

"You know we couldn't retrieve her, the queen was watching are every move."

I worked hard to nod and not strangle Chess.

The cup of tea in my hand was starting to look like a good throwing weapon.

"Okay, so we need to get to the Pool of Tears pronto."

Chess grinned sheepishly again.

"I need to cash in a few favors first."

"Why?" I said dryly.

"Well we can't go to Amaricas looking like ourselves. I need to find some more Miracle objects.

We need to get Alice and the best way to do that is look like kids her age."

I slurped on the tea I was sipping.** (Oxymoron)**

"Her age?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, her age. Believe it or not, she has grown quite a bit; I think she is about fifth-teen or sixteen at the moment."

I contemplated that.

"I can't imagine her that old." I stated.

Chess gave his classic grin.

"It was weird when I saw her the first time too."

"We just need to remember one thing." He added.

"And what's that?"

"Starting tomorrow we are going into stealth mode."

Stealth mode?


	10. Chester and Hadley

**So here is another chapter. I also found out someone from the Russian Federation is or has read some of my story. It really amazes me how far the internet can put things out. I owe this chapter to "Defying Gravity" by Idina Menzel and the wonderful cast of Wicked.**

**Chess**

I stumbled out of the river gasping. Hatter was right beside me throwing up.

_Cats really aren't meant for water._ I thought as I joined Hatter on the ground throwing up my innards.

-5 minutes later—

"Okay, we need to make up names for ourselves." Hatter said.

I agreed.

He smiled. "You can be umm, Chester and I can be Drew."

I turned toward him.

"Wait, back up. I get to be Chester and you get to be Drew?"

He nodded.

"No. Why can't I be Drew and you Chester?"

I shook his head as if it were obvious.

"You can't see the resemblance? Chess, Chester?"

I gave him the same as if it were obvious look right back.

"Oh, I get that. But what does Drew have to do with Hatter?"

He looked disgruntled.

"Fine. You can pick a name that suits me then?"

I grinned an evil smile.

"Oh yes, I believe I can."

Hatter visibly paled.

"How about Hadley? I like that, you'll be Hadley Madison."

He muttered something unintelligible.

I laughed suddenly, thinking of something.

"What a pair we will make." I told him. "Chester and Hadley."

He smiled fondly.

"Alrighty, we should locate Alice."

Hatter smiled in anticipation.

We walked down the path soon to find us in a local park.

I searched for a map.

"There." Hatter pointed.

We started to walk towards it but then I stopped.

I saw Alice.

She was swinging on a park swing.

She looked very young for sixteen though.

I stopped Hatter.

"Look its Alice."

As soon as he saw her we put on huge smiles and walked towards her.

Hatter tapped her shoulder.

"Alice, we found you, you-"but he was cut off by the girls answer.

"I am not Alice. I am Raven." She huffed.

She turned around to look up at us.

She suddenly looked wary.

But then she pointed to a figure on a park bench maybe ten yards away.

"That's Alice."

**And the rest you know from previous chapters. I know this one is short, but hey, I just wrote three chapters tonight. I am dog tired. Maybe I'll write another tomorrow. **


	11. Planning for Tuesday

**It's been awhile since I did an Alice chapter.**** Thank you for reviewing. I slept till noon today, but now I am back on the schedule. Oh and I checked the dates on which Jolie and Rick left. They left on Saturday if you are confused. Just re-read chapter three and you can see that Alice was with Raven for two days.**

**Alice**

We stayed on the bus and paid our fair when we left.

We had quite a walk to go before we reached our house though.

We had skipped lunch and both of us were hungry.

Raven was deep in thought and quiet.

We were just about two blocks away when she spoke.

"Alice… do you think they will try and find us again?"

I sincerely hope not.

"Nah, they were probably some die hard boy scouts trying to sell popcorn."

She didn't look convinced.

"But they asked for you specifically."

I thought a second before answering.

"Maybe someone won a contest and thought I was the winner?" I said grasping at straws.

"Alice…"Raven said.

"Okay, I really don't know, but it's not like they no where we live." I replied as we turned the corner.

I stopped dead.

There on our porch were the two grinning idiots.

I cursed.

Then I realized who I was with.

Raven up at me with an admonishing look.

"Don't tell Jolie." I begged.

Then she looked up again and saw the two boys too.

I was mad.

I marched up to them with Raven and tow.

"Alice, we thought we had the right hous-"

I interrupted him.

"Look, I don't know who you think you are but you need to leave or I swear I will call the police."

I waited for my words to take effect.

They didn't leave like expected.

Instead they looked very grave.

"She doesn't remember us." Said the kid who had the freakishly huge smile.

The other kid looked sad too.

"Alice, it's me, Hatter. Don't you remember me?"

I studied him.

"Nope, I have never seen you before. Your name is Hatter?"

"Yes." He said dejectedly. "And this is Chess."

Then they went off to the side of the porch and started conferring to each other.

I looked at Raven.

She shrugged and looked back at me.

I handed her my cellphone.

I decided to cut there talking short and kick them off.

I heard a snippet of their conversation.

"—through a rabbit hole and save wonderland."

I went right up to Chess and tapped him on the shoulder.

"I am going to give you ten seconds to get off of the porch before I call the cops."

I pointed at Raven for affect.

The looked at Raven and laughed.

"You're going to call something called cops with a metal box? Said Hatter.

Did just crawl out from under a rock?

"Five." I said simply.

They didn't move.

"Four."

Chess started to speak.

"Wait, before you call your friend "the cops" can we explain ourselves first."

I looked at Raven.

She shrugged again.

I thought it over.

Wait, when did Jolie say she was getting home?

Crap.

"No."

"Come back Tuesday night, and I'll think about it."

They looked at me blankly.

"Today is Sunday."

They still looked puzzled.

"Come back in two days when the sun sets."

Did I really have to spell it out for them?

Tuesday was a good time because Jolie had her book club and Rick was meeting a customer with an addiction to only speak in sonnets.

You meet a lot of strange people when you're a physiatrist.

"GO!" I told them.

Hatter was about to say something but the Chess kid stopped him.

"Thank you, we will see you in two days. "He pulled Hatter off of our property and down the road.

I led Raven inside.

I started fixing Linner, because we had totally skipped lunch and it wasn't time for dinner.

In five minutes I made two ham sandwiches and sat down with Raven.

"What are we going to tell Rick and Jolie?" She asked.

I opened my mouth then closed it.

"We aren't going to tell them anything." I decided.

"Just say you had a nice time at the park and everything has been normal. I don't know if Jolie and Rick would like me meeting them again."

Raven interrupted my rambling.

"I think we should tell them because they followed us home."

I shook my head begging her not to.

"Raven please, let me deal with them and then we will never hear from them again."

She still looked undecided.

Just then I heard Jolie and Rick's car pull up.

_Perfect timing Jolie._ I thought sarcastically.

Raven got up.

"Please Raven." I begged.

The door opened.

"Hey guys, did you have fun this weekend?"

All eyes were on Raven.

_Please. Please. Please._

" Umm."

_Please. Please. Please._

"Umm. Yes. It was tons of fun. Alice took me to the park and we also played Barbie's."

_Thank God._

Raven kept telling them how great it was and I used that as a chance to escape to my room.

I had to plan for Tuesday.


	12. Planning for Tuesday two

**Well after seeing you're reviews, I am trying really hard not to let you down. So I have decided while I continue thinking of a good way to get Alice to Wonderland, to write a Raven chapter. I hope you like the chapter and continue reviewing. **

**Raven**

After we got off the bus, we walked home.

I thought of a way to broach the subject of the two weirdo's.

Did Alice know them?

"Alice… do you think they will try and find us again?"

"Nah, they were probably some die hard boy scouts trying to sell popcorn."

She answered to quickly for it to be true.

I looked up at her.

"But they asked for you specifically."

She paused before answereing.

"Maybe someone won a contest and thought I was the winner?" She said unconvincingly.

"Alice…"I said.

"Okay, I really don't know, but it's not like they no where we live." I replied as we turned the corner.

Suddenly Alice stopped walking.

I paused too, and was about to ask her why did we just stop, when Alice said something I am not allowed to repeat.

I looked up at her with what I hoped was an admonishing look.

"Don't tell Jolie." She begged.

I smirked and looked up again at our house and saw the two weirdo's at the park.

Alice walked towards them pulling me along.

Weirdo number one spoke first.

"Alice, we thought we had the right hous-"

But Alice didn't let him finish.

"Look, I don't know who you think you are but you need to leave or I swear I will call the police."

Alice sounded tough when she needed to be.

They didn't leave but looked sad.

"She doesn't remember us." Said Weirdo number two.

They were completely ignoring me.

"Alice, it's me, Hatter. Don't you remember me?"

What kind of name was Hatter?

"Nope, I have never seen you before. Your name is Hatter?"

"Yes." He said dejectedly. "And this is Chess."

Then they went into the corner of our porch and started talking in low voices.

What were they saying?

Alice looked at me.

What was I going to do? I was just as freaked out as she.

I shrugged back.

She handed me her cellphone.

Why did she do that?

There were two options.

One: I have always wanted a phone, and loved playing Angry Birds.

Two: She wanted me to call the cops.

She then marched up to Hatter and Chess

She spoke to the Chess dude.

"I am going to give you ten seconds to get off of the porch before I call the cops."

She pointed at me so they would see that I have the phone.

Then they laughed.

"You're going to call something called cops with a metal box? Said Hatter.

Were they time travelers?

"Five." Alice said in reply.

They didn't move.

"Four."

Chess dude started to speak.

"Wait, before you call your friend "the cops" can we explain ourselves first."

Alice looked at me again.

What was I supposed to do?

They were super weird. I shrugged again.

Alice was thinking.

I could tell.

"No."Alice said.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Maybe we could be done with them.

"Come back Tuesday night, and I'll think about it."

Wait, what?

They gave us a confused look.

"Today is Sunday."

They still looked confused.

"Come back in two days when the sun sets."

Why Tuesday? Why ever?

"GO!" She yelled at them.

The Hatter dude was about to say something but the Chess dude cut him off.

"Thank you, we will see you in two days. "He pulled Hatter kid away and disappeared down our street.

Alice unlocked the door and headed in with me in tow.

She went to the kitchen and started rummaging around.

She came into the dining room and gave me a ham sandwich.

Then something else occurred to me.

"What are we going to tell Rick and Jolie?" I asked.

"We aren't going to tell them anything." She said.

"Just say you had a nice time at the park and everything has been normal. I don't know if Jolie and Rick would like me meeting them again."

Was she nuts? Why should she meet them again? They were creepy.

"I think we should tell them because they followed us home."

She shook her head begging me not to.

"Raven please, let me deal with them and then we will never hear from them again."

She did sound in control. Maybe I shouldn't tell them.

She did promise that they would be gone.

I heard a car pull up.

It was Jolie and Rick returning from there little vacation.

Was it that late already?

I got up to meet them.

"Please Raven." She begged.

The door opened.

"Hey guys, did you have fun this weekend?"

All eyes were on me.

What should I do?

" Umm." I stalled.

Alice was giving me a puppy dog look.

I decided one lie wouldn't be so bad.

"Umm. Yes. It was tons of fun. Alice took me to the park and we also played Barbie's."

I began to tell her little made up details.

Alice left and went upstairs.

I couldn't let her meet them alone.

I would come with her.

If she wouldn't let me, which would probably be the case, then I would sneak along.

One thing was for sure.

I would have to plan for Tuesday.


	13. Push her down the rabbit hole

**Well I think it's about time I updated. Thank you Lydiatigeropean person. My paste option on my mouse isn't working at the moment so I hope I got your name right. Thank you for pointing out my mistake. I don't know how to fix it but am also working on that too. I don't know how to get them to Wonderland, so I hope you will accept their idea. This will be a Chess and Hatter chapter.**

**Hatter**

Chess pulled me away after thanking Alice for her time.

I was still in shock.

She couldn't remember?

What were we going to do? What was Wonderland going to do?

I let Chess lead me out of her neighborhood and into a small forest.

Chess morphed back into a cat.

"I really thought she would remember us." I said.

Chess nodded his head. For once his gleaming smile not showing.

"Me too."

We sat in the silence for a few minutes contemplating what to do.

"We do know that she will let us explain ourselves on Tuesday." Chess said in a monotone.

I nodded enthusiastically.

"I think it's obvious she trusts her sister more than us at the moment, so we need to have a course of action in case she doesn't want to come back to Wonderland." Chess said.

A course of action? Did he mean to kidnap her if she wouldn't go back?

"Chess, are you saying we have to kidnap her if she won't go?"

He shook his head in disgust.

"I am saying that we should prepare if she doesn't believe us."

"How?" I challenged.

"Umm, we could show her your Miracle hat and our change in appearance."

I scratched my head. This might work.

Then another thought occurred to me.

"How are we going to get back? There isn't another Pool of Tears."

Chess scowled.

"I know that, I'm not stupid. Like I told you before, we get Alice through a rabbit hole and save Wonderland."

Was he serious?

"How many rabbit holes do you know are enchanted to take us to a desired destination?"

"Two." He said proudly.

"Really?" I said intrigued.

"Yes, but we can only use one, because the other one is in a faraway place called Alaska. I even heard that big white bears guard the entrance to it."

"Okay so we go to this rabbit hole, and have a talk with Alice, and then push her down the hole."

It seemed simple.

"It's not that simple." Chess said.  
Way to put out my fire, fur ball.

Chess continued on oblivious to my inner thoughts.

"To use the rabbit hole, you have to be willing in some way to go through it."

Great. Getting her to Wonderland just got a whole lot easier.

"Not only that, but it is extremely hard to get such a large number through to the same destination."

I rubbed my temple annoyed.

"So what do we do now smarty pants?"

Chess looked at a loss for words.

"Uh, I guess we talk."

"What about?"

"How about, Alice."

"Okay."

Chess started the conversation.

"I can't believe how old she was. She is very intimidating."

I nodded in agreement.

"Her sister looks a lot like her too." I added.

"She will be a good queen someday."

We sat on the ground and continued small talk late into the night.

When the moon was at its peak, I decided it was time to get some rest.

"Chess, I'll take first watch. You need to sleep."

He looked up. "What is that supposed to mean, - I need to sleep-? You need to sleep just as much as I do."

I quickly backed up.

"Nothing, it's just you're a cat and cats take cat naps." I finished lamely.

Chess looked me up and down.

"Hatter, I have been awake as long as you and a human most of the time. Cats are semi- nocturnal and mostly sleep during the day because they are up all night."

"So I guess I'm not taking first watch?" I asked.

Chess stretched out.

"What? No, I didn't say that. You can still take first watch; I was just offended with your comment about my sleeping habits."

I shook my head in disbelief.

"Stupid feline."

I got up and did a perimeter check.

I started muttering about his sleeping habits under my breath.

I turned around when he muttered something in turn.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you." I said trying to get him to tell me what he said.

He complied.

"Muttering is the first sign of madness." He said lazily.

I swallowed a laugh and went to find firewood.

"You would be mad too, if you faced a jabberwocky." I called back over my shoulder.

"If I remember correctly you faced a jabberwocky because you couldn't keep an eye on Alice. If you watched her she wouldn't have gotten lost and found a baby jabberwocky who in turn called its mother."

I shook my head remembering the good old days.


	14. Alice gets an explanation, sort of

**I am so sorry about the last chapter, it was just a filler.**

**I am also sorry I didn't mention my followers. I would be pretty annoyed if an author mentioned some of the followers but forgot to thank you. **

**So to ****lydiathetigeropean thank you once again. phoenixdragon78 I am terribly sorry. You have permission to throw darts at my head. I hope this helps make amends. Soulreaperforlife I believe I have thanked you but here we go again. If not then you can hit me with potatoes. And to Symmetricalravenxx8 thanks for all your reviews. I love ravens. Speaking of which, this one is partly about Raven.**

**Oh, if I haven't mentioned you yet, then I promise I will soon.**

**If you want the disclaimer then go back a few chapters for it.**

**Raven**

It was Tuesday night.  
Jolie and Rick were gone; it was just me and Alice.

I could tell she was nervous. She kept pacing and fiddling with her necklace.

I knew I would have to dress appropriately in order to follow her.

I put on leggings under my dress.

I know I shouldn't where a dress but Alice would start asking questions if I changed to drastically.

I put up my hair in a two pigtails. I also slipped sneakers on my feet.

I filled a bag full supplies.

I added a flashlight with extra batteries, a big sports water bottle, bug spray, and a camera so I could record their conversation if needed and Jolie's phone.

I overheard Rick telling Jolie about a cell tracking device that could be added to her and Alice's phone she said she would add it in.

I nicked her phone out of her purse right before she left.

I didn't want to do it but I had to follow Alice somehow.

I also grabbed my blue jacket that Alice bought for me on my birthday.

I was ready as soon as I heard the knock on the door.

**Alice**

I was pacing nervously.

Maybe they knew something about my old life.

No one really talked about the time before Jolie and Rick so I just grew to accept everything.

Jolie had explained some things about me when I was fourteen.

I knew I was most likely abandoned and had amnesia.

I knew all about the nightmares.

I wasn't curious about my old life because, I didn't see any way I could find any more information on it.

But now…

I shook my head, the two kids probably had nothing to do with me and I should just sit down and forget about them.

Raven wasn't down here so she must be in her room.

I wondered briefly about leaving her here alone, but she had promised she would be fine.

She had been very quiet at dinner.

Very unusual for Raven.

I pushed all thoughts away as soon as I heard the knock on the door.

I ran to the door.  
I stopped, took a deep breath and opened the door.

**Hatter**

I was so excited.

Chess told me repeatedly to slow down when we were coming to her house.

But I could tell he was also excited.

Chess was back in his human form.

We both had sore backs and necks from sleeping on the ground.

We were early, so we waited by walking up and down the street.

I even got Chess to morph into a cat and let me start chasing him to dissuade the neighbor who kept peeking out behind the curtains.

But finally both carriages left the house.

It was really fascinating the carriages. They weren't pulled by anything and were super-fast.

They also looked very strange.

But they had left so we headed up to her house to knock on the door.

**Chess**

We had reached the porch steps and knocked.

Three hard knocks.

We waited.

We weren't kept long however, because the door opened almost immediately.

Alice appeared and we both smiled.

She didn't.

"Hi, Alice."

I started the formalities.

She didn't say anything.

I thought we raised her better.

"Right, where should we start?"

Hatter spoke next.

"Can we come in?"

Her answer was short and to the point.

"No."

Great we were getting nowhere.

Hatter ran his hands through his hair.

He had taken his hat off and put it in his bag.

Don't ask me how it fit.

"Well, I suppose you would want to know how we know you." I prompted.

She nodded still not inviting us in.

I guess it was a good precaution.

For all she knows we could be part of the queens army.

Hatter started the story.

"Alright, you were born on September.13th. You were next in line to rule Wonderland."

Alice interrupted.

"When you say Wonderland do you mean the one in that book by Lewis Carroll?"

"You, know Lewis Carroll? He caused so much grief in Wonderland." Chess complained bitterly.

"Never mind, continue with your story." She said.

"The White Queen ruled the diamond quadrant and you were the diamond princess."

Alice started laughing.

"Are you nut cases serious? I'm not some princess."  
She continued laughing.

Hatter waited patiently to for her to stop.

"Any way, there are four quadrants in Wonderland. You and your mother were in the diamond one; your aunt ruled the hearts, an old army general ruled the spades, and the last one is governed by the caterpillars."

"Back up, if the diamond thingy is ruled by my 'mother' then where is my so called 'dad'? And why is something ruled by gross little caterpillars?"

Hatter humped indignantly about the caterpillars comment.

I sighed. This would take a while.

"Look, I am going to cut this short. Your dad was killed by the red queen's invasion to rule Wonderland. Those 'gross little caterpillars' are the best seers around, and the Blue one happened to predict your birth."  
I took a deep breath.

"Right when you were born the caterpillars came forth with a big prophesy about how one boy would enter Wonderland through a looking glass. We learned later he was Lewis Carroll. Well he ended up causing a whole lot of trouble. Hatter would you take over?"

Hatter began.

"Well he took a lot of notes about Wonderland. This was during the red queen's rebellion so it was focused mainly on that. He heard the news of your birth and wrote stuff about it too."

I broke in again.

"He said Wonderland would make a great story and he would write a book."

Alice then broke in. "How would you know what he planned?"

She asked certain she had tripped us up.

"I met him. He is tall, has dark hair and very curious personality. He also came through the Pool of Tears."

"Any way Lewis went all over Wonderland and no one tried to stop him because no one had ever come from the outside world. He even had tea with Hatter."

Hatter harrumphed in indignation.

"I was very cordial and the best host. All he did was write notes on what I said. I even told him my best joke."

We were all sitting on the floor now. Hatter and I on the porch and Alice on the hard woods. Just a door way between us.

"What is your best joke?" Alice asked.

I moaned. No. Not this again.

Hatter beamed.

"I am so glad you asked my dear. It goes like this."

I interrupted. "Hatter, it doesn't make any sense, don't bore her."

He ignored me and went on.

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" He said proudly.

She thought for a moment.

"No clue. Why is a raven like a writing desk Hatter?"

I was surprised, she actually said his name.

I guess we moved on from happy-go-lucky kids and nutcases.

Hatter seemed put out. "I haven't the slightest idea."

Alice seemed annoyed. "Then why did you ask me that?"

"Well I was hoping you would know."

I stopped them before they got into one of their classic arguments.

"Okay, let's get back to the explanation."

I was about to go on when Alice stopped me.

"Wait before you go on, why should I believe you loons?" She asked.

Well I knew it was too good to be true.

I guess were back to the name calling again.

I pulled a torn photo out of my bag. It was of Alice and us.

I was smiling as always and Hatter was trying and failing to look mad because Alice had stolen his hat and put it on her head.

It was right before the queen caught up to us.

I showed it to her.

She stared at it for a long time.

"You're wearing my necklace." She pointed out.

It was taken before I gave it to her.

I nodded and explained.

"I gave it to you later.

"How did you get this?" she choked out.

Hatter smiled and took the photo.

"It was right before Chess sent you here."

"Explain." She said simply.

"You're going to have to come with us here, and then we'll explain more." I said pointing at a park on the map I had with me.

She nodded. "Let's go."

And we went.

**Third person p.o.v**

What the trio didn't notice as they started out was the door didn't shut the whole way.

They didn't notice that they were being followed.

They didn't notice that Raven was watching them.

**Well, it's a good chapter. I'm just relieved it's done. My longest yet. Eleven pages on MS word. You guys like the musical Wicked? The backstory to the Wizard of Oz? I do and maybe after this fanfic is finished I'll do one of those. Let me know if you think this is to boring. I am almost ready for a Grace chapter. So fly my pretties, fly and review.**

-The frowning Cheshire cat

*I hope you don't mind about the photo, I know I sort of made Wonderland electronic free, but pretend some bonehead made a camera and then forgot to make more electronics.


	15. Side note

**Dear people,**

**I am not done writing I am just on vacation for the next 2-2.5 weeks. Please don't give up. It will also be my first time on a plane. Nervous.**

**Should I do a pairing or just leave it at friends?**


	16. Raven in Wonderland

**I am back from my trip. I did chew gum and it did work. Thanks for the tip. I am at a loss of what to do. I get that Chess and Raven is an interesting pairing, especially since ageing is different in Wonderland. I also think Chess and Alice is an awesome pairing, just not for this story. It would be awkward since she was four years old and he was practically her guardian at some point. But I am intrigued with this RavenxxChess thing. **

**What if Raven went into Wonderland and some weird amount of time passed and when Alice goes in to find her, she would be older, like even older then Alice? Kind of like Narnia. Tell me what you think.**

**Raven**

I followed the trio as close as I could without being noticed.

I looked at our surroundings and realized we were heading for central park.

I froze when the Chess kid halted the group and listened to the night.

I must have made a noise loud enough for him to hear.

After what seemed like an eternity they began walking again.

I followed but this time walking more carefully.

We walked into an empty park. I kept following them until the group split.

Uh oh. What could I do now?

Alice broke off with the Chess kid. But the Hatter dude stayed put.

I couldn't follow Alice because Hatter would see me. Why was he just standing there?

I was getting scared.

I looked at my shoes. Somehow that gave me comfort having something familiar with me.

I didn't like being alone in the empty park.

I contemplated whether or not to just go home.

I did know the way without Alice.

I think.

I was jolted out of my thoughts when someone grabbed my shoulders.

I was about to scream when my attacker threw their hand over my mouth.

I struggled and then I felt the persons hands drop.

I squinted; it was quite dark by now.

It was the Hatter kid.

"What are you doing here?" He whisper shouted at me.

What was I doing here? Then I remembered.

"Making sure Alice is airtight." I hoped I sounded braver then I felt.

He snorted.

"She's never been safer, now go home." He said annoyed.

I didn't move. "Why does she want to go with you?"

He snorted. "We took care of her when she was young; we protected her from anything the Queen threw at us."

I was curious.

Alice had told me that people in England had a queen.

"Is Alice British?" I asked.

He looked just as curious. "What is British?"

I shook my head. I didn't feel like explaining.

"Why did you attack me?"

He shrugged. "I thought you were a spy for the Queen."

Okay, if this wasn't the queen of England then who was she?

"The queen of what?" I asked.

"Wonderland." He stated as if it were obvious.

Like the book?

I voiced my thoughts aloud. "Like that book 'Alice in Wonderland'?"

He sighed. "How am I supposed to know?"

I asked another question.

"Why did you bring Alice here?"

"There is a rabbit hole that will take us back to Wonderland."

"Why does she have to go?" I asked stubbornly.

He looked extremely annoyed.

"Look kid, I don't have much time, Chess is explaining stuff to Alice and I need you to go home. It's better if you aren't involved."

I huffed. "Where is the rabbit hole?"

He looked around as if checking for witnesses. "Between the flowery bushes." He replied pointing at a pair of huge rose bushes about 20 yards away.

I walked over to them, Hatter followed hesitantly.

He kept looking around.

I peered through the thicket. Sure enough there was a big black hole in the ground.

Uhg, Alice had to go through there?

"Hey, kid. Do you see Chess and Alice anywhere?" Hatter asked me worriedly.

I looked up, I didn't see any one.

Was it possible they had already gone through?

NO. I needed Alice. She was the best sister in the world. I mean, sure we had are differences but we were close.

"Is it possible they went through the rabbit hole?" I asked him anxiously.

He frowned in thought. "Well it's possible, but Chess would nev-"

I pushed the thorns aside ignoring the pinpricks of pain and stuck my head down the hole.

"Alice?" I called out. No answer.

I tried again. "ALICE!"

I took a deep breath mustering up my courage.

Alice was down there.

I had to help her and bring her back.

I briefly thought of Jolie and Rick, they would be heartbroken to come home and find there two kids missing.

They would search and find nothing.

But if I brought Alice back…

That was all it took.

I took another deep breath and launched myself into the hole.

I screamed on the way down.

**Hatter**

I watched as the kid called for her sister.

She truly did care about her. It surprised me; I thought that Chess and I were the only ones to care for her.

I kept looking around for them. Something caught my eye.

I swiveled my head to the left, there were figures behind a tall oak tree.

Was it them?

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.  
It was them.

I was about to call over to kid that they were by the tree, when she tumbled down the hole.

Her shrill scream brought Chess and Alice running over.

Oh no, this was not good.

Who knows where the kid will end up.

She could end up in Wonderland if her will to find her sister was strong enough.

But if not, she could be anywhere.

I turned around when I heard Chess and Alice approach.

No, this was not good.

**Hey guys, I forgot to add this up at the top, I just had my birthday. Hurray. I want to explain this; Raven went through the hole willingly to find her sister, even if it was under false pretenses. I apologize that this is a shorty chapter but I think it puts a twist on the story. It was kind of a filler. **

**I went to HP land for my B-day. It was, in Ron's words, bloody brilliant. I love the castle it was amazing. I love the forbidden journey ride, it is so cool. I had butter beer but it tasted like crème soda. The pumpkin juice is like drinking Pumpkin Pie. I wanted to buy a set of the robes but there 100 smackers. But I did get a wand. It is Dumbledore's. **

**Any way, Next stop WONDERLAND….**


	17. Alice finally went to Wonderland

**I realize I haven't put up a disclaimer in a while so here it is.**

**I don't own Wonderland and I don't really want to either, think of all bickering Chess and Hatter would do if I owned it.**

**I am glad my reviewers like the Chess and Raven thing. **

**To all of my readers that haven't reviewed, I totally understand if you don't have an account and want to review but can't. **

**But to all those who can review please do. Even if it is just to trash my story. PLEEAASSSEEE Review. Even if you hate my story.**

**I hope I'm not being pushy but I really love reviews. If you write fan fiction then you know what I mean. But before this fanfic I had no idea why authors loved reviews. I was actually getting annoyed with everyone always asking for reviews. But now since this is my first fanfic I totally see why authors wanted reviews. So Review. Please.**

**Alice**

Chess was recounting all of our adventures when I was younger when I heard the scream.

The scream itself would scare me normally, but this one was more scary because I recognized the scream.

It was Ravens.

_Flashback_

"_RAVEN!" I yelled as she took my new phone. I had just got it for Christmas and just left for a second to use the bathroom when it was stolen._

_She ran cradling the prize in her arms while giggling away._

_If you think little kids are slow when they run, then you are sadly mistaken because they have endless energy and are small enough to fit into small spaces. They can also change directions very quickly._

_I finally caught up to her in the hallway by my room._

"_Raven…" I gasped. "Give it…back…now."_

_She didn't move. Typical._

_I then proceeded to tickle her until she would drop it._

_I had learned that taking something by force would result in a crying child and sometimes a timeout for me. _

_She began to laugh and squeal. _

_She dropped the phone. Success. But we were both having fun so I kept tickling her._

_She was the one gasping now. "Alice…stop…my face… is hurting."_

_Then she started screaming with laughter._

_I immediately stopped to cover my ears. Man, she could scream high pitched._

"_Wow Raven, if you practice I bet you could break glass someday." I told her._

_She smiled in return._

_Then Jolie came pounding down the hallway. "What's wrong? Is everyone okay?" she asked us._

_When she saw we were all okay she looked at me for an explanation._

"_Umm, Raven took my phone and then I chased her and then I tickled her and then she dropped it." I said very fast hoping she would just walk away._

_No such luck. "Alice for tickling your sister and scaring me, go to your room for an hour."  
I groaned and started going to my room._

_I heard Jolie in the background. "And Raven for taking Alice's phone and screaming so loud go to your room for 2 hours."_

_I smiled to myself as I shut the door to my room._

_End of flashback_

"RAVEN." I shouted at Chess. We both took off towards Hatter who was staring at a rosebush with horror.

"What happened?" whisper yelled Chess. Seriously, what is it with the whisper yelling? No one is around.

"The kid, your sister." He pointed at me. "Went down the rabbit hole." He said gravely.

"Why?" I shouted at him.

I was confused, why wasn't she at home? Unless she followed us… Oh no….

Hatter swallowed and continued speaking. "She followed us. She was worried about you and when I told her to go home she wouldn't. I sort of explained a bit about the rabbit hole and she was curious."

Chess looked up sharply. "Are you saying she went into that hole just because she was curious?" He said exasperated.

"No. When she was looking at the hole, I was looking around for you guys. When I couldn't see you, I asked if she had seen you. When we both had no idea where you were she asked me if you already went down the rabbit hole when we weren't looking. I told her it was possible but…" He didn't get to finish.

"YOU TOLD HER IT WAS POSSIBLE? "Chess and I said at the exact same time.

Hatter was looking very scared.

"Well yes, but I also said it wasn't likely. Then I spotted you and was about to tell her when she jumped down the hole." He finished.

"And you didn't think to stop her?" Chess asked.

"I didn't think she would go jumping down the hole." Hatter said lamely.

"We have to save her." I said.

They both looked at me.

"Alice, there is a good chance she is not even in Wonderland at all." Chess said gently.

"Why not?" I retorted.

"This is just a portal. It could send you anywhere. If she wanted to find you badly enough then she would end up at her desired destination. But if not she could be anywhere." Hatter said softly.

No, that couldn't be it; she had to be in Wonderland. She just had to.

Tears started welling up in my eyes. I blinked rapidly.

Hatter and Chess turned away to give me some privacy while I wiped the tears on my sleeve.

"We have to find her." I choked out.

"Alice…" Chess started.

"No". I cut him off. "I am going to find her, she is my sister and even if there is a small chance that she ended up in Wonderland I am going to take it."

Hatter nodded. "Let's go." He said guiltily.  
We all stared at the hole.

"Alright, here's what we have to do. We concentrate on Wonderland. Just think about it. Say it in your head over and over. Think of its exotic mushrooms or the wise old caterpillars." Chess stated.

"Are you ready?" Hatter asked me.

I sighed. "No, and I don't think I ever will be." I said.

"I'll go first." Hatter said.

He shuffled some of the foliage away and jumped.

He screamed. It kind of reminded me of Ravens scream. I chuckled.

Chess looked over at me. "It doesn't look too bad." He said doubtfully.

"No." I agreed. "No, it doesn't."

"Are you going to go next?" Chess asked.

"You go ahead, I will follow you." I asked.

He looked at me full of doubt.

"Don't worry, I promise I'll follow." I chuckled.

He nodded and jumped after Hatter. His yells were manlier.

I looked around the park.

I never stopped to think what a beautiful place this was. The grasses, the sky, even the park benches. Now I would be leaving it all.

I sighed again. You don't miss anything until it is gone.

I turned to the hole in the ground.

I had to do this. For Raven.

I jumped.


	18. Raven in Oz and Raven in Wonderland

**Guess what? I have another reviewer, I have another reviewer! I am thrilled. Thank you so much for reviewing and following my story **_**fearless-forever98**__**. **_**I like your pen name. **

**It's nice to know I have more readers then **_lydiathetigeropean_ and _symmetricalravenxx8 _and _**soulreaperforlife**__**. **_**I really love all you guys and am happy with so much positive feedback.**

**It is really hard to believe you stuck with this story, because when I read through it, I wasn't happy with it, so many mistakes. If I was you I would have abandoned this story a while ago. I am currently working on how to fix my mistakes but for now, I am going to give you a Raven Chapter. This is dedicated to you FEARLESS-FOREVER98. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Have an awesome Kwanza, Happy Diwali, Chinese New Year and the other New Year. Oh and I'm the mood for a disclaimer, scroll to the bottom if you want to see it.**

**Raven**

I was falling through a deep dark hole and unless you are a professional sky diver, it's going to be scary.

No, scratch that, it's terrifying.

So here I am screaming and losing my voice in pitch black when I begin to slow down. After another minute I am gently descending down the vertical tunnel. I stop yelling and actually try to feel the walls. If I stretched I could touch both sides at the same time.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared. I just wanted to get out of the tunnel somewhere nice and happy. I wanted to feel the sun on my face, green grass beneath my feet. I just wanted to go home.

The tunnel starts to lighten. I can't tell where the light is coming from, but I welcome it all the same. I stop falling altogether. I am floating in midair now.

I touch the side of the tunnel and the dirt crumbles away revealing some wood.

A door maybe?

I pull at the dirt, tearing it away. It is a door.

I grasp the handle; take a deep breath and pull.

It opens into somewhere bright. I blink fast waiting for my eyes to adjust.

I clamber out of the doorway pushing my feet against the opposite wall of the tunnel to propel me forward.** (I hope that made sense.) **Wherever I was, this place was beautiful.

Was I in Wonderland?

I was at the edge of the forest. I looked behind me and smiled. The door was imbedded in the ground. You could walk right over it and not notice it. I walked out of the forest and wondered where Alice was.

I saw a small town over the next hill. I headed towards it.

It was so bright and colorful here. It looked magical.

Wait a second, I had seen this place somewhere before. Something told me it wasn't Wonderland.

Something about it was familiar as I approached the town square. In one direction was a red brick road and in the other was a yellow brick one.

It was on the tip of my tongue.

I gasped; there was a house on the edge of the square. It obviously didn't belong; it had course brown wood that was rotting, a roof that looked that it would fall in any day. But that wasn't what distracted me.

There was a board nailed to the door of the house. It said, 'Here lies the Wicked Witch of the East, slain by Dorothy Gale of Kansas'.

Oh, that's where I am.

I am in Oz.

It took a second to sink in.

Oh no, I wasn't in Wonderland.

Part of me wanted to giggle and jump for joy, because I was in Oz, just like the movie. But the other part was scared and worried.

Alice wasn't here.

I saw little faces peeking out of windows in other surrounding houses. Munchkins.

Great, I now needed to get them distracted so I could run.

I thought for a second and smiled; I knew just what I needed to do.

I went right to the center of the square, right where the two roads met. I yelled as loud as I could.

"LOOK ITS GLINDA". I pointed into the distance and when the munchkin faces turned, I high tailed it out of there not looking back.

I ran back to the forest. I did not want to do a musical number with them. Besides I didn't know what else to do.

I collapsed next to door and started to cry. Why wasn't I in Wonderland? Alice would have thought it through; she would know what to do.

My sobs subsided after a few minutes and I started to wonder what Wonderland was like.

Did it have mushrooms like the movie? With a big blue caterpillar?

I began to laugh as I thought of having tea with Hatter or playing croquet with Chess.

I leaned against the door still thinking of the Alice and Wonderland movie.

A split second later I was falling through the dreaded rabbit hole again.

Oops, I guess I never shut the door completely.

I still screamed, but I did try to concentrate on something else then falling.

I pictured Alice's face but it was soon replaced with a giant mushroom, and then replaced by a tea cup.

I tried to distract myself with Wonderland and all of its inhabitants.

Then I slowed down just like the last time. The tunnel grew brighter just like the last time. I scratched at the dirt just like last time, and guess what?

There was a door, just like last time.

I looked at the door, there was water leaking through the cracks and seems of the door. I pulled it open anyway.

Big mistake.

Water fell through the doorway I had just created. Most of my dress was dry but shoulders up I was sopping wet.

After I spit out the salty water, I pushed myself up just like last time.

I was in a nearly empty fountain like thing.

I stepped out of it and luckily there were no people looking my way.

I didn't know what to make of this place. Was I in Wonderland?

I asked the nearest street tender where I was her looked at me strangely.

"You're in Glass Town of the Diamond quadrant miss, are you lost?"

I shook my head, "I'm in Wonderland?" I asked

He quickly looked around and hissed, "I wouldn't be letting the Queen hear that if I was you. But that's what this good for nothing country was called before she took power."

I nodded and thanked him for his time.

I needed to find Alice and Hatter and Chess.

I passed the town square and into what looked like Main Street.

On a pillar there was a Wanted sign.

I looked closer; on it was Hatter and Chess.

I read the print under it. 'Wanted for treason and vandalism among other viscous crimes.'

My eyes widened even more when I saw a picture of Alice on another wanted sign.

She was younger then eye have ever seen her but I knew it was her.

'Wanted for crimes against crown'. What crimes could a little kid do? What kind of crimes?

Then I remembered how much I looked like Alice.

I could be mistaken for her and arrested. It was a miracle that the street guy didn't mistake me.

I quickly put my hood up on my jacket.

I tucked in all my hair and kept my eyes to the ground.

I walked to the edge of town. There was a forest thankfully.

Rick had taken us all camping for Jolie's birthday. He showed me how to start a fire and even showed me some constellations.

I even joined Girl Scouts for a while.

I started a fire with rocks and twigs. I ate something that looked like blueberries but tasted like peanut butter.

I fished in my bag for the water bottle. I took a long sip.

It was around then I remembered the cell phone.

I lunged for the bag and called Alice. I waited impatiently for the desolate ringing.

"Briiiiing…. Briiiiiiing…..Briiiingggg… I'm sorry you are unable to reach your contact please find a stronger signal or try again later."

I beeped the off button when it ended defeated.

I needed a plan. What would Alice do?

First I needed a place to stay, second I needed to support myself, and third I needed to find Alice and Chess and Hatter.

There was something else I needed to do but I wasn't happy about it.

I would have to cut my hair or dye it so I had no resemblance to Alice. I went back to the berry bush and picked a couple peanut butter berries. I squished them in my hands so that they emitted a brownish goop.

I swabbed my hair with the berries. It took over an hour but I was satisfied.

I built up the fire and laid down on the ground using my bag as a pillow. It was not comfortable.

The sun was going down and I had a plan. I was proud of myself for thinking up my ideas. I was thinking like Alice would.

I fluffed my makeshift pillow and drifted off.

I did not dream that night.

I woke up early, right when the sun was coming up. How did I wake up you say? Well it was very arousing.

Something was licking my face. Right by the hairline. The tongue was rough but warm, not unlike a cats tongue. But it was licking my face so naturally I screamed.

The 'something' turned out to be a deer. And the deer ran away as soon as it saw me move.

I looked at my hair. Slightly damp but it smelled like peanut butter. It was also a light brownish color. The deer licking actually helped the berry juice settle in.

I put my hair up in a bun, just like Alice showed me. She told me it made me look older. I mushed more berries into my scalp.

I picked more berries and put them gently in my pockets and bag.

The fire was out so nothing needed to be done there.

I started off for the town. I needed a place to stay.

**-Time lapse—(let's say, 6 hours.)**

I got a job, I got a job, what did I get? A JOB.

Needless to say I was happy. I would be working in a local inn as a scullery maid. Whatever that was.

The lady of the inn just asked me if I could cook and prepare things like potatoes and meat.

I often helped Jolie with dinner so I knew what I was doing. She offered me free room and board too.

My age didn't matter to her, just as long as no angry parent came looking for me and then yelling at her for employing me.

I got a day a week off and I was paid 10 dollars an hour. **(I don't really want to make up a Wonderland currency so I am just going to use dollars. If you are from England I think 1.5 dollars is a pound. If you are from another country, I don't know the currency) **Sure it was a full days of work, but it was money. I presented myself at the right opportunity and got the job. Luckily someone just quit, so I got the job.

I started tomorrow. The landlady showed me my room. It was small. You could barely fit a bed and dresser in it. I accepted the room and unpacked my meager possessions.

I tried to call Alice again but I got the same no signal message. Bummer.

I tried to console myself with the fact that I made it to Wonderland. But that didn't stop me from crying myself to sleep that night.

I wanted Alice, I wanted Jolie, I wanted Rick, and I even wanted Hatter and Chess. I wanted to go home.

I had another dreamless sleep that night.

**Well, I am finally done. It took me hours to finish this and I still don't like it. Since Raven went into the hole first, let's say 10 minutes pass until Alice follows. In Wonderland that could mean 10 years passed. That way Raven could fall in love with Chess and Chess with Raven and bla bla bla. Do you like my idea? If no one has a better one then I am going to use it. Keep on reviewing. **

**Disclaimer: **

**Chess: I don't own Wonderland**

**Hatter: I don't own Wonderland**

**Alice: I think I own Wonderland**

**Author: No you don't Alice, it's obviously me.**

**Ghost of Lewis Carroll: Really, did you right all those books Miss. Author?**

**Author: 'Gulp' Yes?**

**Lewis Carroll: I am the proud owner of Wonderland.**

****If you guys don't get that, it basically means I don't own wonderland and Lewis Carroll does.**


	19. Sleeping on the floor

**Please don't throw a book at my head. I am late in updating, but I have good excuses. **

**One: It's my Christmas holiday.**

**Two: I was lazy.**

**Three: I was really lazy.**

**I am glad for the new reviews. For Christmas I got a Grimm's Fairy Tales book. It has a really cool cover and everything. **

**So, back to business. Raven jumped down the hole, and screamed like a maniac and it took about 10 minutes for Hatter, Alice, and Chess to follow her. In Wonderland 10 years have passed. That would make Raven either 20 or 21. And before you ask about the huge time lapse when Chess and Hatter came to America, it states in Chapter nine that Chess gained some Miracle objects. One of those could have stopped the rushing of time in Wonderland, right up until the point of their planned departure with Alice. As you soon will read, time is a tricky thing and won't always be the same when it passes in different places. I hope that made sense.**

**In the previous chapter I made Raven really resourceful and now looking back on it, it seems really lucky that she was able to get a job and start a fire and dye her hair and etcetera… I am going to blame that on luck and her awesome Girl Scouting skills. **

**Alice p.o.v**

I was falling through the darkness scared stiff. My heart was in my mouth and my stomach had already emptied its contents on my pants and shoes.

I was so terrified that I couldn't scream. All the fear was welled up inside me. I just squeezed my eyes shut and focused on Wonderland.

Blue skies, red mushrooms, icky wrinkly caterpillars, tea, roses…

I knew I was using most of my ideas from the movie and book by Lewis Carroll, but Hatter said he was in Wonderland at some point. He must know what it looks like.

I focused on playing cards and the Red queen.

I finally opened my eyes when I noticed I was slowing down. It was also getting lighter.

How was I staying afloat? Where were the lights coming from?

I noticed a door handle sticking out from the side of the cylindrical tunnel. I tugged on it and the door clicked open.

**Hatter p.o.v**

You would think traveling by rabbit hole once before would prepare you for the fast ride down, but let me tell you, it doesn't.

So that is why I was screaming and flailing around while trying to concentrate on Wonderlands few perks and its many horrors.

I soon stopped and searched for the door that would open to the Pool of Tears. I got drenched with water as soon as I opened it.

I spit out the water and climbed out of the doorway and into a deserted town square.

I looked around, it wasn't much but it was home. It was good to be back.

It looked to be the late in the night, with the moon at ¾ gone from the sky. That was one good thing to be thankful for. Imagine what would happen if we appeared during market day at high noon.

I looked around for a discarded paper for the date. I knew that some time would pass, but I wasn't sure how much.

I spotted a ripped up Newspaper just outside of an inn. I looked up at the top.

I stared at it for a second then dropped the paper.

10 years had passed. 10 years.

I cursed and kicked the ground. Who knew what could have changed while we were gone.

I waited impatiently for Alice and Chess to come through.

A minute later Chess came through in cat form. His fur was standing on end, just like if he had gotten an electric shock.

I tried not to smile.

"Where's Alice?" I asked.

"She's coming after me." He said as he morphed back to human form.

What if she didn't come through? What if she chickened out?

I was distracted out of my ramblings by the door opening again and Alice staggered out.

I guess that answered my questions.

"Why didn't you say how long the drop was?" Alice said angrily at me.

"Umm, you didn't exactly ask?" Chess said saving me from her wrath.

She shook her head in resignation. "So this is Wonderland." She said as she looked around the square.

"Yup." I agreed.

Chess morphed back to human form to keep up apearences.

"Alright, where do you think Raven is?" She asked now impatient.

I looked down. Raven probably wasn't even here. Or even if she was, enough time had passed in Wonderland for her to be long gone. Heck, she could be dead.

"Alice," I said slowly, "Time is a very tricky thing." I paused. "And sometimes a second in one place could be a hundred years in another place."

Chess was searching for a paper to get the date just like had done minutes before.

"Hatter, how much time has passed?" She said uncertainly.

Chess came over holding the discarded paper looking solemn. "10 years, Alice." He said having heard her question.

"Ravens been here for 10 years?" She said quietly.

As I stated before Raven probably wasn't even here, but I couldn't say that now. I decided to let her think that her sister had made it to Wonderland.

"Yes." I said.

"But what—" She started.

"She could be anywhere!"

Then she sputtered out, "She's only 10 years old."

I knew she would be grieving for her sister but we needed to get to the matter at hand. Alice had to take back Wonderland and free the enslaved rebels. She had to allow Miracles to be used and not destroyed.

She had to duel the Queen. _Frabjous Day_ would be the opportune time. It was a time when the queen would be least expecting it.

"Alice we need to find cover." I said distracting her.

She just nodded looking sick and let us lead her to the nearby inn.

Chess went in first and paid the owner for a night's stay. Alice was deep in thought and wasn't speaking. Luckily no one noticed us coming in except the barmaid and the landlady. Everyone else was intoxicated or passed out.

The room wasn't big and only held to beds. Alice took one and fell asleep immediately. That left me and Hatter standing around awkwardly.

"One of us will have to sleep on the floor." I said slowly taking a step towards the bed.

"Yes, but which one of us?" Chess said also taking a step towards the bed.

I launched towards the bed only to find Chess beating me there. I yanked him back by his leg and jumped up to the inviting covers only to find someone biting my ankle.

We wrestled for the bed until Chess, the mature one, said he would take the floor.  
He morphed into a cat and settled on the dusty ground.

He started to shiver and looking at me with sad wide eyes. He mewed softly.

I was starting to feel guilty.

His entire backside of fur poofed out and I saw tears welling up in his eyes.

I was beginning to crack. "Alright you big lump, get up here." I said reluctantly.

He jumped up onto the end of the bed. He curled up and said in a human voice dripping with sarcasm, "Thank you."

"Worthless cat." I replied.

He just smiled and curled up and fell asleep. I guess the arrangement wasn't too bad; he was keeping my feet warm.

As I fell asleep, I wondered what we were going to do. It wasn't as if we could march right up to the palace and demand a duel. Well we could, but that would be suicide.

And after that happy note I snuggled deeper under the covers.

There was no place like home.


	20. Return of the Raven

**Happy New Year. We made it passed 2012. I guess the Mayans were wrong. Happy New Year.**

**After that terrible chapter I am hoping to do a Raven one. I am going to enjoy this. Thanks for the reviews. I didn't know how to make a fake name for Raven. I even tried using an anagram. The best name that came up was Lavender Dill. I didn't like the sound of it. I made Ravens last name Liddell. Just like the Alice character from the book.**

**Raven is little when she arrives at Wonderland. When you were 10 did you read the paper? Let's say she doesn't read the paper so she doesn't notice the date difference.**

_**Oh, and before I forget, do you want the White Queen to be evil or the Red Queen? I don't really know which one.**_

**Since I have nothing else to add how about a disclaimer?**

**Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I do not own Alice in Wonderland. My mischief is managed.**

**Raven**

Ten years. That's how long it's been since I've seen them. Ten years exactly at dawn tomorrow.

I was wiping down tables at the inn as I reflected upon it.

My first month here was focused on learning about Wonderland. To my horror Alice was a fugitive as well were Hatter and Chess, Wonderland was a taboo, and magic was real but very illegal. They called their magic, Miracles.

I quickly learned that I needed a back story. To the staff of the inn, I was Anna Rose. An orphan girl who was born in the Spade Quadrant. I chose Anna because it was my middle name and Rose because it was the last thing I saw before I jumped through the rabbit hole.

The land lady, Dolva was a fair but strict woman. Since I was the youngest of the staff, I was the one who did the cleaning up afterword. It was a difficult job for one so young, but the stable boy Ket sometimes helped me if he finished his job early.

After I reached my fourteenth year it became easy and Ket only helped me out of courtesy.

I never forgot Alice and my family. Their faces became blurry overtime but I still remembered what we did together.

After I spent a good couple of months at the inn, I realized that my sister was highly sought after and if she was even sighted it would be reported. If no one had seen her then she wasn't here in Wonderland.

After going over what happened that fateful night, I realized I could have been wrong and Alice didn't go through the rabbit hole. Why would Chess and Alice leave Hatter?

From what I could understand Chess and Hatter were best friends. Alice wouldn't just leave Jolie, Rick, and I. Would she?

I kept hoping Alice would come find me. But after a year of waiting I gave up.

I had a quiet life that didn't depend on much. I had good sturdy work and a roof over my head. I didn't need to concern myself with anything else.

I always had a supply of peanut butter berries to color my hair, but I've had to dye it less and less because the color is sinking in. I don't need to color my hair except maybe once a week to be safe.

So that was how I spent my time at the inn. Working and playing on my days off. It wasn't boring as you may think. The local town's people at the bar all had good stories to tell and Dolva even threw me a party on my eighteenth birthday.

It was a surprise party of course. It happened to fall on a Sunday, my day off. Ket had taken me all over town distracting me from going back to the inn.

When we got back I was overwhelmed that Dolva would put this together for me. I got a few dresses and hair ties. From Ket I got a drawing. (He can draw really well).

It depicts us hanging by a nearby pond we sometimes go to skip rocks or just hang. In beautiful calligraphy at the top, it said 'Best Friends'. It was probably the best thing he could have given me.

But the best present I got was from Dolva. She was getting old in her years and promised if I worked hard; the inn would be left to me when she retired. I loved the little old inn dearly and always hoped to own it someday.

But for the mean time I got a raise and an extra day off.

It was the best day of my life.

_**Present time**_

I was working the bar late at night when the man entered the inn. There was something off with him. He didn't look any different.

He talked to Dolva about a night's stay. I gave him a key. There was something familiar about him. I couldn't place it.

It was possible he had been here before. He went back outside and I continued cleaning the tables and refilling drinks.

I saw him come back in, but I didn't look up. I could tell from my peripheral vision that two more people were with him. Something was off about him. I shrugged it off and started planning my day tomorrow. It was Saturday so I had the whole day to myself and Sunday.

I was distracted by Dolva who came up to me. "Alright Anna, you can go. I'll finish up here and you will get your weekly wages on your dresser." I smiled and thanked her.

It had been a long night and I was tired. I saw the money Dolva had left. I put it into the bottom drawer with a decade's worth of wages.

I took a little of the money for new clothes and other essentials but other than that, I rarely used any of my funds for anything else. Except maybe an occasional treat from the market. I locked it shut and slipped on my nightgown.

I soon fell asleep.

_**Morning time**_

I woke up early. I was excited for two whole days of nothing.

I dressed quickly and ate a quick breakfast of toast and jelly. Just as I was leaving, the cook, Gwen stopped me.

"Anna, I know it's your day off but could you take this breakfast to the guest at the bar. He's the one on the far left. Please, I'm swamped with orders and table five has been waiting for coffee refills for ten minutes." She said pleadingly.

She was definitely frazzled and since I didn't have any urgent plans I decided to help.

"Sure Gwen, don't worry about him, I'll take care of it." She thanked me and left with someone's pancakes.

Just a little after a month of being at the inn, I found out that pancakes didn't exist in Wonderland. I quickly fixed that.

After I taught the cooks how to make pancakes, the inn became a hit place for its food and business started booming.

I also taught them how to make an egg sandwich. It was really amazing what Wonderlander's didn't know. Even an omelet was foreign to them.

I played off my knowledge as 'my mother showed me before she died'. People didn't ask many questions when it came to uncomfortable situations.

I picked up the breakfast order as well as table fives coffee refills and started off to deliver.

The order belonged to the strange man who came in last night.

I handed the tray to him.

"Thank you." He said.

Well he wasn't very talkative.

"You're welcome." I paused, he did seem awful familiar.

"Excuse me sir, have I met you before? My names Anna Rose." He looked surprised and highly amused.

"No, I don't think we have met before. Uh, my name is, uh, Chester." He looked at me curiously.

"It's nice to meet you Chester, are you having a good stay?" I couldn't help but ask; I loved the inn and always wanted to fix anything that could be wrong.

"Yes, my companions and I had a nice rest and the food smells delectable."

I flushed in embarrassment; I was keeping him from his breakfast.

"Sorry, I don't want to keep you from your meal." I turned to leave.

"Wait. I didn't mean to make you leave; I was just complementing your food." He said.

I stayed, unsure of what to say. "Um, how are your companions?" I asked stupidly.

He sighed, "My brother is fine, just tired with all the traveling. But my friend has recently lost her sister. I worry she isn't taking it well."

I winced. I felt bad for his friend; I knew what it was like to lose a sister.

"Give her my condolences; I know what it is like to lose someone you love." I said softly.

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry for your loss, was it recent?"

"No. About ten years ago my sister-"I stopped, wondering what to tell him. "Died as well." I ended.

He nodded deep in thought. He then stared at me with a puzzled expression.

"Uh Chester, it's my day off and I have nothing else to do, so unless I can help you with anything else?" I asked uncertainly.

"Oh, of course, sorry to have kept you." He stood abruptly and left with his tray off food.

Strange man.

**Chess p.o.v**

I woke up early starving.

Hatter and Chess were still asleep so I decided to get breakfast.

It was busy for so early in the morning. I took a seat at the bar.

A stressed waitress came over to take my order. She recommended something called scrambled eggs and pancakes. What was a pancake? Maybe it was something invented in the ten year span we were gone.

I ordered three orders of pancakes and eggs. I didn't want to seem out of the times. I waited patiently for my order to get here.

After about fifteen minutes another women came over with the food. She was young, had short light brown hair and was about average height.  
There was something about her. Something different.

I thanked her for the food. I looked at the fluffy circle in front of me. It certainly smelled good.

"You're welcome." She said.

She paused like she was uncertain.

"Excuse me sir, have I met you before? My names Anna Rose." I looked at her surprised. I haven't met anyone in Wonderland in at least ten years thanks to the time gap. I chuckled inwardly.

"No, I don't think we have met before. Uh, my name is, uh, Chester."

Why did I say my name was Chester? I mentally slapped myself, Hatter would laugh at me.

"It's nice to meet you Chester, are you having a good stay?" She seemed to earnestly care about my answer, not just making conversation.

Truth to be told I hadn't much time to enjoy the inn, seeing as we slept almost are entire stay so far. But I did want to complement her for some reason.

"Yes, my companions and I had a nice rest and the food smells delectable."

Her face seemed to redden in embarrassment. The blush suited her.

"Sorry, I didn't want to keep you from your meal." She blurted out and she started to leave.

What? I didn't want her to leave; I just wanted to complement the food.

"Wait. I didn't mean to make you leave; I was just complementing your food." I voiced my thoughts.

She turned back and stood rather awkwardly.

"Um, how are your companions?" She said suddenly.

What was I going to tell her? I didn't really want to lie to her.

I sighed this was complicated.

"My brother is fine, just tired with all the traveling. But my friend has recently lost her sister. I worry she isn't taking it well."

Anna Rose looked sympathetic. "Please give her my condolences; I know what it is like to lose someone you love." She said quietly.

Something was defiantly familiar with her; I just couldn't put my finger on it.

"I'm sorry for your loss, was it recent?" I was just making conversation now.

"No. About ten years ago my sister-"She stopped suddenly; this was probably hard for her to remember. "Died as well." She ended. Weird coincidence about the sister though.

Something was defiantly off.

She looked uncomfortable.

"Uh Chester, it's my day off and I have nothing else to do, so unless I can help you with anything else?" She said uncertainly.

Crap. She probably had plans and I was keeping her away from them with boring conversation.

"Oh, **of** course, sorry to have kept you." I stood up and left with the food.

She was nice to talk to. But something was weird about her. I don't remember ever meeting her.

Strange women.

**Well, I am finally done writing. Its 12:48 in the morning. January.1****st**** 2013. I am actually proud of this chapter. Chess finally met Raven. Ket is just a friend, nothing serious going on. I hope this is long enough. As always review. Happy New Year**

**-Frowning Cheshire Cat**


	21. Pancakes, pepper rocks, Quox beans

**Hi people. I just started going back to school after New Year's, so don't expect an almost every day update like I have been doing. It's a miracle that I could find the time to write today. Well any way I decided that I would make the Red Queen evil since it makes the most sense. And Raven didn't recognize Chess because it's been like ten years since she has seen him. Thank you for pointing that out **fearless-forever98. This chapter has some trouble.

**Alice**

I was having a wonderful dream. I was flying on some sort of creature, maybe a dragon? Someone was saying my name in a panicked tone, but I didn't care, I was flying.

The creature had a strange cry, it sounded like a person screaming, "Jabberwocky".

I laughed at it, what a strange cry.

Then my arm was yanked and I tumbled off the Jabberwocky's back. I was scooped up by strong arms and then we were walking back towards wherever I came from. Then I heard another sound. It wasn't really far off.

"JABBERWOCKY!" its voice was deeper and came from a massive creature.

The person next to me spoke in to what I now recognize to be Hatter's voice, "Uh oh, time to RUN!" And he took off while muttering to himself.

We skidded to a stop beside a tall tree. He gave me a boost and then proceeded to scramble up as well. Climbing was no trouble for me and I soon was a substantial height off the ground. Hatter stopped a few feet below me. I was giggling uncontrollably.

I loved climbing and running and the tumble with the jabberwocky was the most fun I had in weeks.

"You just had to wander off and play with a baby jabberwocky?" An out of breath Hatter said.

And then someone was shaking me awake.

I rolled away hoping to go back to the dream, but whoever was waking me up was insistent.

I cracked open an eye and saw a dark form standing by my bed. Wait, what was a person doing in my bedroom?

I sucker punched whoever was there and jumped up ready to defend myself.

The person who I had just punched fell to the floor with a thump, clutching his nose.

I blinked. It was Hatter.

Oh man, I punched Hatter.

"I am so sorry Hatter. I didn't mean it." I said while helping him up.

Then it hit me. Raven wasn't here. She was probably dead. Has been dead for ten years I reminded myself.

. Then Hatter interrupted my ramblings.

"Well, now we know who needs their beauty sleep." He said while rubbing his sore nose.

"Sorry." I repeated.

He shrugged it off, "Do you know where Chess is?"

I looked around the room, no Chess.

A loud growl came from Hatters stomach. We both laughed, despite the situation.

"Maybe he went to get breakfast." I said jokingly.

A second later the person in question walked through the door holding a tray full of food.

I smirked at Hatter who scowled back at me.

He then made a beeline for the Chess.

Chess had a strange look on his face, but as soon as Hatter grabbed the tray his became annoyed.

"Hey give it back; I am just dying to try pancakes."

"Pancakes?" Hatter asked.

I burst out laughing. This was too good. They didn't know what pancakes are.

"You two don't know what pancakes are?" I said in between laughing.

They both stared at me.

"Um no," Chess said, "I just assumed that they were invented in the last ten years."

"It's very good breakfast food, dummies." I said while grabbing one.

"So, these pancakes are considered a delicacy?" Chess asked.

"Hardly, there not very fancy." I said with my mouth full.

They both grabbed one. Hatter, the braver one, bit into it hesitantly. His instantly shoved the rest of the pancake into his gob. Seeing this Chess also took a bite. His joy was more restrained but it was clear that he enjoyed it.

We spent the next hour the rest of the food. Chess liked the egg sandwich but not as much as the pancakes. Hatter wouldn't touch his eggs after his first bite. I gleefully finished his portion of eggs.

Chess finished eating first, "I have to go into town today, so I'll be gone most of the afternoon."

Hatter nodded. "I'm going to go down and mingle and find out what's new in the world."

He stood up and then the strangest thing happened. His appearance changed slightly. He was shorter now and was sporting a short buzz cut. His hat had vanished entirely. To someone who didn't know him he looked like regular Joe of the street.

He stood and left before I could question him.

Chess turned to look at me. I smiled innocently.

"I'll just stay around here not causing trouble." I said.

He nodded reassured. "Alright, bye Alice." He said and then he too changed his appearance and left.

_15-20 minutes later_

To my credit I did wait around for like an hour. Okay maybe it wasn't an hour, but I still got very bored. I stepped out of the room hesitantly. I had a pretty good feeling that I wasn't supposed to leave the room, but Hatter and Chess never said I couldn't. Plus I said I would _stay around here, _not specifically in the room.

I went down the steps slowly taking in all the chatter and smelling the food for the early lunch hour. I spotted Hatter talking to a tall blonde waitress about ordering pancakes for lunch.

So much for gathering information.

I smiled and walked on. The day was a cool one but people were still trying to enjoy the sunshine. I saw two children selling some kind of drink on the side walk. I felt my pockets for loose change, I pulled a few ones and some coins from my person and walked towards them.

The little girl smiled at me with her front teeth missing.

I started to sing 'all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth' in my head.

She couldn't have been more than five. The boy next to her must have been ten. I wondered where there parents were.

"Hi, can I have a cup?" I asked as I approached them.

The girl filled me a cup full of dark green liquid. Maybe I should have asked what it was first.

The girl handed it to me with a toothless smile, "Two nickels please, miss."

I was appalled at the cheap price. I handed her a quarter and told her to keep the change.

She looked at me surprised, and then thrust the money at her brother.

"Thank you kindly miss."

I took a sip; it tasted kind of minty and soft. I eagerly took another sip.

"Thanks sweetie, it tastes great."

"You're welcome miss. My mum helped me make it."

"Oh, you don't have to call me miss, Alice is fine."

The boy who hadn't been paying much attention much before snapped to attention.

"Your name is Alice?" He asked dangerously.

"Yes…?"

He turned to his sister and handed the money to his sister. He also whispered something in her ear.

She nodded fearfully and took off.

I started to back away from the stand. "Wait Alice, come back."

"Why did she have to leave?" I asked worriedly.

"I gave her the money to give to our mum." He said hurriedly.

"Um, thank you for the…" I didn't know what the drink was.

"…pepper rock tea." He supplied.

"Yes, the pepper rock tea, but I really have to be going now." I said, something was definitely wrong.

Then the girl came back with her mum and what I guess was her dad. They took one look at me took their son away from the booth and ran away.

"Well that was weird." I said to myself.

I looked around for where they had gone. There, over by the corner talking to SOMEONE WHO LOOKS LIKE A COP."

At least he seemed like a cop. He actually was dressed like a soldier from those old movies, that we were forced to watch in history class.

They were now pointing at me. He started to walk towards me.

Oh great, what had I done?

I started walking away quickly. I saw an alleyway and ducked into it. I immediately ducked behind the garbage pile and watched the soldier/cop run pass me. It reminded of when Raven and I hid behind the bush at the park.

I smiled at the memory. I crept out of the ally after a minute or so.

I kept my head down after that and pretty much ran back to the hotel.

I didn't look up until I was safe in the room. I waited nervously in there until Hatter came back with a snack.

While we were chomping on something called Quox beans, Chess came barreling into the room.

"We need to go now! "He pretty much shouted in our faces."

"What? What's wrong?"

He dragged us to the window, people were running from more soldiers/cops, but that wasn't the most terrible thing there.

There were grotesque metallic monsters crushing and setting fire to buildings. People were running and screaming from them.

"Machines." Chess and Hatter deadpanned.

"Why?" I asked in horror.

"Apparently, someone saw _Alice_ in the streets and reported it to the Card's."

Hatter whirled around to look at me.

"You were out in town?!" He said appalled.

"Well, no one told me that I was so bloody important!" I said right back at him.

"Oops…"Hatter and Chess said in sync.

Chess shook his head, "Uh guys, I don't know if you noticed, but we need to get out of here."

We reacted at the same time. We tore down the stairs and tried to navigate through the mess of what the inn had become.

Just as we reached the door, a Machine whacked the building with its metal claw. We were separated, Hatter and me and Chess somewhere in the mess of the inn.

"WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE." Hatter yelled, gesturing to the hole in the wall.

"WHAT ABOUT CHESS?" I yelled back.

"HE'LL BE FINE." He shouted.

Then he pulled me out the hole. We ran for the forest at a breakneck speed, I only hoped Chess would be alright.

**Chess (p.o.v)**

A Machine whacked the building with its metal claw. We were separated, Hatter and Alice and me on the other side of a big column that had fallen because of the Machine.

I looked for another way out. There, by the kitchen bar, another small hole probably kit by a passing machine.

I leapt out of it running to the forest. It was the most logical place for Hatter and Alice to go.

But as I was leaving town I saw an unconscious girl lying in the rubble of a building.

There were unconscious people all around but something about her made me stop.

I lifted the hair from her face and frowned in surprise.

I don't know what made me do it but I picked her up and proceeded to run to the forest.

It was Anna Rose.


	22. Jabberwocky's, woods, and Card Captain

**Okay, I wasn't planning on having a time when Chess and Raven are alone, but due to persuasion I think I will have a little bit of time with just them.**

**I have a new reviewer! forgave2001 thank you. Good pen name.**

**I really have no idea where this story is going and I honestly don't know what I am going to write in a second, I don't even know whose point of view it should be in. I think maybe I'll go have lunch and then start writing. **

_(One hour and 13 minutes later.)After the author had a wonderful lunch_

**This is a re-uploaded version.**

**Raven**

Uhg, what a headache, I thought as I rubbed my head.

I blinked blearily as I sat up. I tried to think back to what happened.

I remember that the Glass Town was being attacked, and lots of fire. But after that, just fuzzy blackness.

I took in my surroundings. I was in a forest, probably the forest right outside of town, we were pretty deep into it thought, I had never gone this far in.

I was sitting by a small campfire but no one was around._ How the heck did I get here?_ I thought.

I stood up on wobbly legs, man my head hurt. It was dusk, and the sun was just dipping below the horizon.

Then I heard something, or rather someone. Someone was singing a very odd song. I have never heard of it.

"- O Frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'  
He chortled in his joy—"

I whirled around to find the strange man at the inn coming into the clearing with an armful of fire wood.

"Oh, you're awake." He said as he set down the wood next to the fire.

"Y-you're the man at the inn." I said shakily.

"Yes."

I gave him a bewildered look.

"Oh, um, you were lying in a pile of rubble unconscious and you probably would have died so I um, brought you here."

Well, at least he was honest.

"Where are we?" I asked him.

"In the middle of a forest." He said in a 'duh' voice.

"Well I could see that, but why here?" I snapped.

He hesitated, "I am waiting for some friends."

"In the middle of a forest?" I eyed the tree's surrounding the meadow.

"Uh, yes." He said scratching the back of his head.

"Uh huh, yah." I said sarcastically but I let it go.

"How long have I been out?" I asked instead.

He thought for a moment, "Couple hours, maybe."

We just stared at each other.

"Alright," I said as I started moving towards the edge of the clearing, "I'll just be going then. Thank you so very much for your help, I hope you find your friends and good bye."

I moved with my head high and back straight. I would leave with dignity.

I would have kept going except I heard something that made me cringe. Chester was laughing at me. I hated when people laugh at me. Even before Wonderland.

_Flashback_

"_Raven?" Rick was calling me. _

_I ignored him and continued trying to stand on my head. Lea Thompson could stand on her head. She demonstrated it on the playground at school. She said only the most talented people could stand on their head. _

_I wanted to stand on my head just like Lea Thompson. _

_I pushed myself up on my head and used the wall for support on my back. I was just about to ease away from the wall when my door flew open causing me to fall._

"_Raven, I was calling for you." Rick said._

_Then he actually looked at me. "What are you doing?"_

"_Standing on my head, like a talented person." I said stubbornly from the ground._

_I must have looked pretty ridicules because of what happened next._

_He started chuckling. Then he started to laugh. Then it turned into a full out cackle. _

"_S-Sorry…Raven…it's just…you don't have too…stand on your head...to be talented." He said in between laughs._

"_STOP LAUGHING." I said angrily._

_He calmed down. "Sorry." He chuckled. "Anyway I need help with dinner, would you set the table?"_

_I eagerly bounded out of my room to help with dinner._

_End of Flashback_

It made my blood curdle. Why did he laugh at me?

"WHAT?" I said gritting my teeth.

He stared at me as if I were stupid, "Two things. One you're in the middle of a forest at night."

"So?" I asked.

"Predators hunt at night." He reminded me.

"So?" I said little less certain.

He sighed as if I were being silly. "What is the leading cause of death in the Diamond quadrant?"

I inhaled sharply, "Jabberwocky attacks."

"Where do you think the Jabberwocky's live?" he said as if talking to a five year old.

"In the middle of the forest." I said defeated as I sat back down on the ground.

He also sat down and added more wood to the fire.

"Chester, what is the other reason?"

He smiled, "You were walking the wrong way."

I frowned, "How do you know that?"

"One, I came from the other direction and two, I know the woods like the back of my hand."

"Okay." I said.

"So…" I said awkwardly.

"Yes?" He looked at me inquisitively.

"Um, what are your friends like?"

He smiled again. I decided I liked his smile, it was big and cheery kind of reminded me of a banana.

"They were with me at the inn." He said.

"Oh, your brother and your other friend?"

He nodded in response,

"My brother…" he paused for a moment, "Hadley" he smiled wide again, "is very impulsive and can hold a grudge for a very long time."

Really, that was it?

"Are there any positive things about your brother?" I said playfully.

He nodded again, "He loves life, food, friends, me. Oh and he always stands up for what's right."

"He sounds nice." I said earnestly.

"He is."

"What about your friend?" I asked curiously.

"She…" he began, "Is normally very kind…" then he added as an afterthought. "And sarcastic." He said slowly.

"Normally?" I prompted.

"Yes, as you may recall what I said earlier, she is grieving for the… death of her sister."

"Were they close?" I asked thinking of how close Alice and I were.

"I assume so, I lost contact with her for many years, but for the little time I saw them together they certainly seemed close."

I nodded, and for the first time in a few years I really started to miss her. Of course I have always missed her but I tried to burry my feelings so I could move on and get a life. Chester really got me thinking of her.

"Are you alright?" he asked concerned.

I swallowed and put my hands to my face. When I withdrew them my fingertips were wet. Quickly, I wiped them away so he wouldn't see.

"Yes. It's just you had me thinking of my sister."

He nodded.

"Sorry."

"Don't be, it wasn't your fault."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your sister?" He said quietly.

I sighed trying to think of what to tell him.

"Her name was, um uh, Alex. She was killed by um, uh, Jabberwocky's." I said quickly thinking up a lie.

"My condolences." He deadpanned.

"Thanks, Chester."

"Uh, you don't have to call me Chester, just Chess is fine."

I grinned, "Okay _Just Chess."_ I said to annoy him.

He stuck his tongue out. I stuck my tongue out at him.

Then we broke down laughing.

I decided I really did like Chess despite the circumstances.

**Meanwhile in another section of the forest…**

**Hatter**

We were walking through the forest when I heard a faint noise. It sounded familiar. Then in perfect clarity a creature shouted,

"JABERWOCKY!"

"Oh no, it's a Jabberwocky." I said to Alice.

After walking through the woods for hours her hair was plastered to the top of her head with sweat and she had a rip in her jeans where she had fallen earlier.

"What is a Jabberwocky? It wasn't in the Disney movie." She said tiredly.

"What's a movie?" I asked her while looking around.

"It's sort of a moving picture. Now, what's a Jabberwocky?"

I tried to explain it to her, "Its, sort of a dragon only much more quick."

"And it shouts Jabberwocky?" she said for clarification.

"Uh huh."

"How big is a Jabberwocky?" she said as we continued cautiously forward.

"Very big." I said.

"Do they eat…people?" she said worriedly.

"Yes." I said trying to listen for another call.

"You were actually on a Jabberwocky's back when we were on the run." I said trying to keep my voice calm.

"And I didn't get hurt?" she said skeptically.

"Well no, you were on a baby Jabberwocky whose fangs hadn't grown in."

I cursed as I heard another "JABBERWOCKY" yell.

Alice stumbled and it was lucky I was able to catch her. I realized that there was no way we could outrun a Jabberwocky a night, and we were so tired.

"Okay, here's the deal. Were too tired to run, and we probably wouldn't get far because it's too dark. So we need to find a place to hide."

She looked scared but nodded.

"Do we have any advantage over these creatures?" she whispered.

I smiled to myself as I looked for a tree to climb.

"As a matter of fact, yes. They can't fly, and they don't hunt in packs. Also they have relatively no sense of smell or sight. They rely on hearing alone."

"So we would have to hide somewhere high and be very quiet?" she asked.

_She's clever_. I thought. "Yup, preferably a tree."

"JABBERWOCKY!" it was closer now, probably one hundred yards.

I pointed at Alice indicating for her to be quiet; we were in hearing range of the Jabberwocky now.

I pulled her to a nice branchy looking tree that looked pretty sturdy. I gave her a boost and then pulled myself up.

"JABBERWOCKY!" It was only a few yards off now.

Alice was going too slow, I pushed her forward. Still same pace as before, I soon became frustrated.

"Move!" I whisper shouted.

Then I realized my mistake. I clapped my hands over my mouth in horror.

It had heard me and now would stalk the area for at the very least a few hours.

It roared up at us, "JABBERWOCKY!"

Hearing the roar, Alice scampered up the tree with me in close pursuit.

When we were a good distance up, I stopped her from climbing and we settled into a nook in the branches.

"Sorry Alice." I whispered.

She put a finger to her lips angrily. It pretty much said, _BE QUIET._

"Look, it's going to stay for a few hours so talking won't make a difference at the moment."

I paused, and she nodded for me to keep going.

"Okay, Chess and I have a meeting point; it's in a clearing more or less in the middle of the forest." I paused and took a breath.

"I guarantee he will be there when we get out of this tree."

"When will we get out of this tree?" Alice whispered.

I grimaced, "Well, we might have to spend the night."

"Great." She yawned.

"So, no more talking after this and absolutely no noise. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

**Meanwhile, just hours away from Hatter and Alice, the Cards are hunting for them in the forest.**

**Captain of the Cards**

I knelt while feeling the footprint that was stamped in the ground.

The tracks were steadily headed north as they have been all night.

I didn't think that we were really following _the Alice, _she probably died years ago. It was just a stupid kid who told someone her name was Alice.

Kids, they were more trouble than they were worth. Just look what happened to Glass Town because of it.

The footprints were fresh and there were two sets of them.

I breathed in the night air, soon I could go home. _Just have to deal with a stupid kid._ I thought tiredly.

My wife Bertha was expecting and I wanted to be there for the birth. She was due any day now.

_Stupid orders, stupid queen—_I quickly stopped thinking. One could get killed for insulting the queen.

_Yes, _I thought, _Soon I can go home._

I motioned for my team to keep going.

**Longest Chapter yet. I hope it's alright. I put in the last bit with the Captain because I want you to see that he was just following orders and isn't really the evil one in this story. **

**The little song that Chess sang is a reviewer's idea. Good idea, I never realized what the Disney Cheshire Cat was actually singing a song. I can't believe that this is about 20 chapters. Next up, a Grace chapter. Finally she makes an appearance.**


	23. Tonight

**Well, it's the weekend and boy, am I happy. I figured out how to re upload and fix things. I fixed last chapter a bit. Thankyou Lydiatigeropean**

**Flash back to first Chapter**

_"GRACE!"I heard my mother. "Coming." I yelled back._

_I only just had time to chug down a cup of tea and bread. I met Pamela at the fork in the road and we set off for school._

_We walked in just as Marchy, err, excuse me, __Principal Hares __watch went off. "You're late,Very late. Now hurry or you'll miss the gathering." _

_That was strange. We're talking about a guy who is always worried. Even about the smallest things like dust. I'm not saying dust isn't interesting, it's just weird to see this guy so excited._

_We took our seats in the back of the room but what was different was no one was talking. Then I noticed the Council of the Caterpillars. Everyone was there. Each letting off colorful steam. This must be a very important gathering._

_That only leaves the question, why were they here?_

**Grace**

I fidgeted slightly trying to get comfortable against the ground. Not an easy feat.

The blue caterpillar, whose name is ironically Blue, spoke first.

"Now that we are all here",-he looked down accusingly at Pamela and me- "I would like to inform you of an event."

"A _terribly_ event." The red Caterpillar corrected him looking around scared.

I looked around too, and I saw Cards lined up around the exits and entrances. I guess I didn't notice them when I entered the gathering. What were the Cards doing here?

Blue just looked at him with disinterest, "I'm sure you all recall the regime change with the White Queen and the Red Queen?"

We all nodded are heads obediently. It was required learning in are History class.

"Then I assume you know of the death of the White Queen and her, for lack of a better term, _innocent_ daughter?"

One of the Cards coughed. We all turned towards the noise, the soldier was looking directly at Blue.

Red picked up the conversation, "Um, her daughter did not die like you may think."

We all gasped and started talking among ourselves. I turned to Pamela.

"She's alive? Is she still out there?"

Pamela just shrugged looking uncomfortable.

Green picked spoke then, "Hush children, let us finish."

We all quieted down immediately. Green continued, "She escaped with two of the White Queens staff. The Hatter Madison and The Cheshire Cat."

We all stared in shock, to my best knowledge they had died in the great battle. I looked at Pamela; for once her face was unreadable. Strange, Pamela was usually very open.

"It has been twenty-two years since then and until recently we thought the girl had died from natural causes in nature or other means. The two offenders, Hatter Madison and Cheshire cat were found without any explanation of why they had been running. They did not have the child, Alice." Purple said.

"But a girl named Alice has been sighted in Glass Town. She has almost the exact description of the Diamond Princess."

Glass Town was not that far from here, only a few miles.

"Although this may be a ruse, we all advise caution and if you see young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes and if her name is Alice, and inform the nearest adult. She should be in her mid-20's." Yellow said tiredly.

"If any one of you has seen someone of this description come forward, now." Orange said.

"No punishments will be given out." White said reassuringly.

No one moved; you could hear a pin drop for how quiet it was.

"Are all of you positive? Anything you have seen, any small detail is important. Even if you think you are wrong." Red said loudly.

Everyone waited for someone to speak up. No one did.

"Well, - sighed Black after a pause-, we will be going now. Thank you for your time children."

One by one they all left. I was amazed by them.

It would be terrible if Alice was here. She would try and take the thrown from the Red Queen.

Then Marchy addressed us, "Alright students, after that lovely word of advice, I think it would be best if you all return home for the day."

I grinned, school almost never ended early. I grabbed onto Pamela and we started to the door like the rest of the excited students.

"BUT-," our principals voice rang out,-"I expect all of you not to be late for tomorrows studies." He said looking at us just like the Caterpillar.

I looked sheepish, but Pamela just nodded. She was obviously distracted by something.

As we exited the building into the sunshine, I pulled her over to the side of the building.

"Look, I know it's a shock about the Alice thingy but you shouldn't be totally out of it, what's wrong?" I asked concerned.

"Well you see—she shook her head—Nothing, I think I feel a little sick actually." I wasn't convinced but I walked her home all the same.

When I got home I told my parents about the gathering. My mom dropped the vase of flowers she was carrying. My father just looked at me with wide eyes.

"They- They told you that in school?" My mom asked shakily.

"Yes, what's wrong?" Something was defiantly up.

My father took a deep breath. "Grace, go play outside."

He led my mom to his study. I pretended to leave; I opened the creaky door and then slammed it. I crept quietly to the door of my dad's study. I heard low voices.

"—Alice was sighted, Jaired! Then they go tell the kids at school, what's going to happen?"

"I don't know, if Grace is convinced then, doubtless other kids are going to be against _her_ too."

"Maybe we should tell her, let her know about what Wonderland used to be like."

"NO. Keep her clueless for as long as possible."

Were they talking about me? Why is my mom so worried?

A long pause filled the room. "Maybe we should call, the Diggs. They could help."

The Diggs. That's Pamela's parents!

"Alright. Tonight we go over there." I heard footsteps coming to the door.

I ran to the door. I didn't make it in time.

"Grace, what are you doing back in here?" My dad asked worriedly.

"Um," I stammered. I needed to think of an excuse. "I was, um, just getting my coat."

"Really, its way to warm for a jacket." My mom said while taking a step towards me.

"I was going to play super heroes. I needed a cape." I thought swiftly.

"Oh, okay. Have fun dear." My mom said and she went into the kitchen.

I went outside with my coat. Something was worrying my parents. I decided I would have to follow them tonight.

I entered my backyard and picked up a stone. I threw it in our backyard pond.

Yes, tonight I will follow them.

**Parents P.O.V**

"Do you think she heard anything?" Reva (the mom)

Jaired looked out the kitchen window watching his daughter throwing stones in the pond.

"No. I think she is just unnerved by our behavior towards Alice."

"What if it is just a fake Alice?" Reva asked.

"I don't think anyone would be that stupid. They would have to be a Fuzzie."

Reva nodded in agreement.

"The Diggs, actually Sarah Diggs, told me that Pamela knows the truth."

"Grace's friend?" Jaired asked his wife.

"Yes, Sarah said that they told her a few months ago."

"Oh." Jaired said.

"Don't you think we should tell Grace?" Reva said worriedly.

"No, we do not know how she would react." Jaired said tirely.

"At least wait until we meet with the Diggs."

"Tonight." Reva said.

"Tonight." Jaired agreed.

**Here is the long awaited Grace Chapter. I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I think I might have to do a Pamela chapter. I'm not sure yet, but maybe. **

**Happy Saturday!**


	24. No clue what to call this but whatever

**Okay, time for the parents to sneak out. Grace will follow, she will over hear, and yada yada.**

**Time for the story to get a little interesting.**

**Oh, and I will grace you with the disclaimer**

**If I own Wonderland then I am the Queen of England. Last time I checked I live in America.**

**Reva P.O.V**

Jaired shook me awake, and I silently got dressed. It was probably around 11 o'clock. We had made sure Grace went to bed.

We crept down the hallway, tiptoeing.

I stopped Jaired when we passed Grace's room. I gestured for him to check on her.

We opened the door and saw a Grace sized lump under the covers. Good.

I stepped away and Jaired started to close the door. 'CREAK'

We stood stalk still, praying Grace wouldn't wake. She rolled over. I sighed in relief.

My relief was short lived because she rolled right on to the floor. Just great.

She woke with a start.

"Uhg, what the-"Grace said blearly. Then she noticed us standing there.

She sat up, "Uh, mom, and dad, not to be rude but what are you doing?" she said now fully awake.

"Uh…" Jaired started. Jaired never could come up with lies on the spot.

"We were checking on you, sweet heart." I said in fake worry.

"Why?"

"We, uh, heard a noise, didn't we Jaired?" I said bringing him into the lie.

"Um… Yes, we heard a thump and wanted to see if you were all right." He said smoothly.

"Oh, well I'm fine." She said climbing back into bed.

"Alright, good night dear." I said and closed the creaky door.

"Whew, that was close." Jaired said.

I just shook my head and pulled him down the hallway and out the door into the breezy night.

The Diggs were expecting us, Jaired had gone over earlier and scheduled a visit.

**Grace**

I was sleeping soundly and dreaming of smiling cats when I heard an annoying 'creak' interrupt my dream. I rolled over trying to get away from it.

Next thing I know, I am on the floor looking up into my guilty looking parents faces.

Then I remembered about them sneaking out and me following. If I hadn't woken up I would have completely missed their meeting with the Diggs.

Talk about good luck. Then I remembered why I was on the floor.

What were they even doing in my room?

"Uh, mom, and dad, not to be rude but what are you doing?" I said confused.

"Uh…" Dad started.

"We were checking on you, sweet heart." Mom quickly covered for him.

"Why?"

"We, uh, heard a noise, didn't we Jaired?" Mom said to my Dad.

"Um… Yes, we heard a thump and wanted to see if you were all right." He said more sure of himself.

"Oh, well I'm fine." I said climbing back into bed to pretend to go to sleep.

"Alright, good night dear." Mom said and she closed my creaky door.

I waited until I heard the front door creak. We really had to oil all the doors in our home.

I waited ten seconds and followed them through the door, careful not to let it slam.

I saw them ahead of me. The town has a very flat landscape so I knew if they turned around I would be seen. But I couldn't follow any farther behind because then I couldn't see them against the darkness. The moon only goes so far to light your way.

It was a short walk to Pamela's house, only about five minutes from the fork in the road.

When we got there, I had to duck down behind Mrs. Diggs's rose bush so they wouldn't see me. After that I had a dilemma. I couldn't get inside; I would have to watch from the window.

I crawled on the ground like a fireman and slowly peeked through the front window.

My parents were sitting on the sofa and the Diggs sitting adjacent. No one was looking my way. Perfect.

Then I noticed Pamela sitting on the floor next to her parents. I felt a stab of anger. Her parents were fine with letting her in on their plans and so were my parents?

She was talking to my dad who was taking her seriously. Why couldn't my parents let me in on it?

I know it has something to do with what happened at school, but what?

Why did Pamela get to know and not me?

I would have to confront her before school, or after. One thing was for certain, I would figure it out.

**I won't, lie. This is very short but I just had to do it. Next up a Hatter and Alice or a Chess and Anna/Raven.**

**Once again, Happy Saturday!**


	25. Im Yours

**Another Chapter.**

**Alice**

Someone was shaking me awake suddenly. It was too early, I want to keep sleeping. So I rolled over.

Bad idea.

I let out a shrill scream that would have made Raven proud as I started freefalling out of the tree. For a split second I thought I was toast until I felt a jerk and Hatter grabbed my arm.

"Alice, why'd you roll over?" Hatter said while trying to get a better grip on my arm.

"Sorry, but can you get me up?" I said shakily. He nodded and swung me up to the branch. I gripped it tight so there wouldn't be any more accidents.

"Thank you." I said as I tried to calm my rapid heartbeat.

"Let's not make this a habit." He said jokingly.

The fall had made me wide awake, so I noticed the jabberwocky was gone.

"It's gone." I said looking down.

He nodded and began to climb down the tree. I then noticed how high we were. I swallowed. If Hatter didn't catch me, I would be dead.

"Some people came by when we were sleeping." He said as he maneuvered himself through a patch of dead leaves.

"Oh, how do you know?" I said as I also maneuvered myself through the dead leaves.

"There are tracks on the ground,"- he said indicating the said foot prints-"from the looks of them it was a pretty big group."

"Why do you think they were here?" I said as we landed on the ground.

"They were tracking somebody." He stated.

"Me?" I said worried.

"Most likely."

I swallowed before continuing, "How do you know they were trackers?"

"Look over here." He said leading me towards some of the individual foot prints. Some of the prints had little hearts stamped into the ground. The shoe must have had a little heart engraved into the bottom of the boot.

"These shoes are only distributed to the Cards." Hatter said when I saw them.

I also saw other markings in the soil. They weren't foot sized; they weren't even shaped like a foot. They were something else altogether.

"Hatter, what are those?" I pointed to the markings that caught my attention.

He looked to where I was gesturing, and grimaced. "Machines." He said despairingly.

My eyes widened in alarm, but Hatter shook his head. "Not the ones that destroyed Glass Town. Too small. These ones are about the size of a dog."

I relaxed, "So these can't do as much." I smiled.

Hatter didn't smile, instead he said, "These ones are still dangerous. What they lack in size they make up for in speed."

My smile faded. Wait, something wasn't making sense. Wouldn't the Cards notice that we were in a tree?

"Hatter wouldn't the tracker noticed that our foot prints stopped near the tree?" I said quietly.

"Yes… they would." He said slowly, looking for other prints on the ground.

"Here" he said kneeling to the ground, "Here is another set of prints."

They looked very similar to the ones we left behind, so it was easy to see why the trackers were confused.

"Who else would have come this far into the woods?" I said exasperated.

We both looked at each other. There was only one person who would come this way. We both said it at the same time.

"Chess."

That got us moving. We stopped to drink at a stream about mid-day. It was almost comical how easy it was to see where the trackers were going.

"Hey Hatter?"

"Yes?"

"Wouldn't you think it would be harder to track skilled trackers? What if we walking into some kind of a trap?"

He laughed. "The trackers have no one who would dare cross them. They don't need to cover their tracks."

I nodded. It made sense. We followed the trackers for most of the afternoon. Then after a few more hours Hatter stopped me. He kept creeping forward and disappeared into the trees in front of me. After a few moments he returned.

He put a finger to his lips and whispered, "There camp is just up ahead. The good news is that they've stopped for the night. The bad news is that we are very close to the meeting spot me and Chess set up."

"How close?" I whispered.

He paused for a moment, thinking, "Maybe, twenty minutes?" He said vaguely.

I nodded, "so we need to get passed them." I said.

"We have to go around them." Hatter said already moving.

I shook my head wearily and followed him.

(About 15-teen minutes of carefully creeping around the Cards)

"Okay, were safe for now." Hatter said as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Good. Where is the meeting place?" I asked him.

"Just up ahead." He said shortly.

Well, 'just up ahead' turned out to be another ten minutes. When we were approaching the destination, we heard voices. Hatter turned to me and made a gesture telling me to be quiet. Like I didn't know that.

Then he whispered, "We need to disguise you in case were found." He started rummaging in his pockets for something. He pulled out a sort of amulet.

"Alright, close your eyes." He said.

I nodded and silently obeyed. I felt a cool sensation pass over me, like when you get goose-bumps.

"Alright you can open them."

I did so and Hatter was holding a little pocket mirror out for me. I took it eagerly. Needless to say I was shocked.

My eyes were wide and innocent, bright green with just a tiny bit of blue. My hair was cropped short at the shoulders. It was now a strawberry blonde. My skin was very pale and any freckles I might have had, disappeared. I looked a few years younger as well.

"So… what do you think?" Hatter said ruining the moment.

"I kinda like it. Magic can do wonders." I replied.

"You're unrecognizable." Hatter said approvingly.

We cautiously stepped forward and peeked through the trees. What I saw astounded me.

Chess was inches away from some woman. What was a women doing here?

Were they about to kiss!?

I turned to Hatter, he just looked confused.

"CHESS? "Hatter shouted.

The couple flew apart. The lady's face was bright red and Chess didn't look much different.

"Hatter? What are you doing here?" Chess said embarrassed.

We walked into the clearing now unafraid. "Uh dude, this is our meeting place." Hatter said to him.

"Right, right, sorry." Chess said.

"Uh, who's this?" I said gesturing at the brunette.

"I'm Anna." The woman said to me.

She looked to be in her early twenty's or maybe her late teens; she had long brown hair and bright eyes. She seemed to have an innocent look about her.

She was pretty, that much was clear. She seemed to have a sweet personality. She reminded me of my sister for some reason.

"And you must be Chester's brother, Hadley." Anna said looking at Hatter.

I laughed, I couldn't help it. And even Chess cracked a smile. Hatter on the other hand was glaring at Chess, if looks could kill Chess wouldn't just be dead, he would be dust.

"What?" Anna said smiling uncertainly.

"Umm…" I stammered for an answer. It was pretty obvious Hatter_ excuse me, Hadley; _wasn't going to give an answer.

Chess quickly covered for us, "Every time she hears his name, she can't help but laugh. She thinks it's hysterical."

I glanced towards Anna to see if she would buy the explanation.

"I guess it is an unusual name." Anna said.

A moment passed silently. Then another. Then another. The air was thick with awkwardness.

Anna was the first to break the silence, "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, you know my name but I don't know yours." Anna said to me.

"Oh, how rude of her." Hatter said with a menacing smile.

Uh oh, I didn't like where this was going.

"She really does try to introduce herself." Hatter said malevolently.

Something told me I was going to pay for laughing at Hatter. Anna was smiling uncertainly, aware of the tension in the air.

"Her name is Allison."

I groaned inwardly. Allison wasn't a bad name, per say. It was just I didn't like the meaning behind it, or the fact that I didn't chose it.

"It's nice to meet you Allison." Anna said sweetly.

After that episode, we remembered about the trackers.

"Chess, a moment please." Hatter said.

Chess walked off to the side of the clearing and we followed. Anna sensing the private conversation went to pack up whatever belongings they had.

"Who is she?" Hatter demanded as soon as we were out of ear shot of Anna.

Chess grimaced before answering, "She was lying on the ground unconscious; she would have died if I didn't help her."

"Must I remind you that we have a queen to overthrow and a disguise to keep up?" Hatter snapped back.

"We could take her along." I added in.

They both stared at me like they forgot I was there. Ugh, men.

"What? - I said defensively- I have ideas too."

"Alice, uh I mean Allison, we can't take her along. What if she finds out about us? Not to mention were rebels and hiding from the law." Said Hatter.

"What if we could trust her?" Chess said open to the idea.

"Uh, Wonderland to Chess, you just met her. She doesn't mean anything. We can't say take her along. The risk is too great." Hatter said.

"Hatter, she has nowhere else to go. Her home got destroyed, thanks to us." Chess said defending her.

"Fine. What do you think we should do?" Hatter asked while crossing his arms.

Chess frowned as he thought.

"We could hit her with the full story, leaving out some obvious parts, and if she shows resistance, we hit on the head with a rock and wait for the trackers to find her." I said.

"Trackers?" Chess asked.

Hatter grinned, "You wouldn't mind knocking her out?"

"Well, I'd rather avoid it, but after last night I realize this is a game of life and death."

"Trackers? Last night?" Chess said very confusified.

Hatter continued to ignore Chess, "It does seem like a good plan, if she's against us then the trackers will sympathize with her, but if she's with us then we could hide her."

"Guys, I still need an explanation." Chess put in.

Hatter sighed dramatically and filled him in.

"A jabberwocky, huh. Tough luck." Chess said after we explained.

"I think we should be more worried with the trackers." I said.

They both nodded their agreement.

"We should start moving as soon as possible, then." Hatter said.

"Let's go explain to Anna."

**Anna/Raven P.O.V**

"Thanks, Chester."

"Uh, you don't have to call me Chester, just Chess is fine."

I grinned, "Okay _Just Chess."_ I said to annoy him.

He stuck his tongue out. I stuck my tongue out at him.

Then we broke down laughing.

I decided I really did like Chess despite the circumstances.

It turned out that Chess was a really good fisherman, when he heard my stomach growl he led me to a stream and started pulling fish out the water like it was nobody's business.

I was very embarrassed, but fishing with him was fun. The opportunity let me get to know him better.

Needless to say, dinner was amazing.

"Wow, I haven't felt this full in a long time" I said as I tossed another fish spine into the fire.

Chess nodded in agreement, his mouth still full of trout.

I stretched out feeling tired. I was going to use the bag that I brought with me for my day in Glass Town as a pillow.

I didn't have much in it, just a little money that probably wouldn't last a day, a water skin and Jolie's cellphone. I didn't go anywhere without it. I would have brought the camera from home, but it broke when I was sixteen.

The fur lined coat I had worn to the market place would do as my blanket.

Chess added more wood to the fire and also laid down.

He didn't speak so I guess he was thinking.

"Are you worried?" I asked him.

"What?" He asked.

"About your friends. Are you worried?" I continued.

"Yes." He said tiredly.

"I thought they would be here by now. I guess they had to stop for the night."

"That's probably it." I said trying to reassure him.

We settled into a comfortable silence. I was watching the sky; I had never seen so many stars.

"Why do you care so much?" He said breaking me out of my reverie.

"I-I don't know." I whispered, not looking at him.

He saw me looking at the stars. "I could teach you a couple of constellations, if you want." He said hesitantly.

I smiled big, "I would like that."

The rest of the night was spent happily, with Chess telling me wondrous stories about stars.

**Morning time**

When I woke up, Chess was gone. The fire was low so I added wood from the stack that we had piled up last night.

I started to sing as I did so.

_Well, you dawned on me and you bet I felt it  
I tried to be chill but you're so hot that I melted  
I fell right through the cracks  
Now I'm trying to get back  
Before the cool dawn run out  
I'll be giving it my bestest  
And nothing's gonna stop me but divine intervention  
I reckon it's again my turn  
To win some or learn some_

But I won't hesitate  
No more, no more  
It cannot wait,  
I'm—

I cut myself off when I saw Chess walk into the clearing. I flushed embarrassed.

"You have a beautiful voice." He said astounded.

I tried to say something, "Um, don't sound so surprised."

He just shook his head in disbelief. "Really- he said touching my arm- you're good."

I smiled warmly. "Thanks."

"I brought breakfast." He said holding up more trout.

"Yum." I couldn't seem to form big sentences.

We ate in silence, building up the fire when needed.

Before I knew it, it was high noon. It was getting hot so I asked Chess to show me the stream so I could dip my feet in.

He complied happily and we both soaked our feet.

"Hey Chess, could you tell me the constellation story about the bear again?" I said just wanting to hear him talk.

"Of course." He shared his trademark grin, and began the story.

After many stories later we headed back.

"Anna, could you sing that song again?" He said pleadingly.

"What? No." My cheeks were heating up again, I could feel them.

"Please."

Ugh, why did he sound so amazing?

"Um… I don't" I stammered.

"Pretty please?" He was on his knee's now his eyes wide and face pouting.

I groaned, "Ugh, alright."

I repeated the verse I sung earlier.

_Well, you dawned on me and you bet I felt it  
I tried to be chill but you're so hot that I melted  
I fell right through the cracks  
Now I'm trying to get back  
Before the cool dawn run out  
I'll be giving it my bestest  
And nothing's gonna stop me but divine intervention  
I reckon it's again my turn  
To win some or learn some  
_

He stepped closer to me. My heart sped up._  
_

_But I won't hesitate  
No more, no more  
It cannot wait,  
I'm—_

He was inches away, was he going to kiss me? Thinking about it, I couldn't seem to bring myself to care.

I closed my eyes and breathed the last word.

_Yours._

"CHESS!?" A voice broke the moment.

We both woke up from whatever spell we were under and flew apart.

I was blushing furiously and tried to meet the eyes of the on lookers.

Oh goody. I thought sourly. Chess's friends finally show up.

**Rights to the song go to Jason Mraz. I thought this was a cute chapter to write. Hope you like it, as I always say Read and Review. Happy Saturday**


	26. Sensitive Scalps and a cliff hanger

**Grace**

Once I realized there was no way I could hear anything going on in the Diggs's living room, I turned for home.

I went to bed feeling hurt and dejected. My head was swimming with questions.

Why wouldn't my parents trust me? Were they against the government? What did Pamela know?

I took me awhile to fall asleep, but when I finally did my parents hadn't come home yet. I woke up for school like a normal day and ate breakfast like a normal day.

At school they constantly shoved 'Alice Warnings' down are throat. I kept waiting for a chance to corner Pamela. It took me three days, but I finally found an opening.

It was sunny out but the air was still crispy cold. I walked home with her and Pamela kept chattering on. At the fork in the road I stopped.

"—and then the pudding fell in his face, hahahha." Pamela was telling me.

"I know about the meeting with my parents." I cut her off.

"What?" She said feigning confusion. Her eyes were carefully guarded, her tone now serious.

"The meeting, the one where your family and my parents went to together." I said in a biting tone.

Pamela was trying to force a smile on her face and play it off like nothing happened, "That was just us discussing a party."

She looked at me to see if I was smiling and believing her. I was not.

"You know, a surprise party, I guess we ruined the surprise. Oops" She said her voice upbeat.

"Pamela, you've known me since birth. Do you think that I'm that stupid to think that you would get up at midnight to plan a party for me? It's not even my birthday."

"It was for your un-birthday." She said halfheartedly.

"Puh-lease, no one celebrates un-birthday's anymore. That tradition died with the Queen."

Pamela didn't say anything so I continued my angry rant, "That day at the assembly, you were quiet as a mouse, and I didn't think anything was wrong then. When I told my parents they freaked out and told me to go away so they could talk about something important."

Pamela was looking at her shoes ashamed.

"I listened in on their conversation—" I was cut off by Pamela.

"What did you hear?" She demanded. I faltered, unsure of myself. I had never seen this side of Pamela before. She was angry at me.

"I-I um heard that they were worried about the diamond princess, Alice. They were concerned that I was against her and that they were publicly advertising warnings against her."

"Anything else?" Pamela said uninterested.

I stuck my chin out defiantly, "Yes, but I'm not going to tell you." Maybe this would get her to reveal more information.

Pamela nodded stoutly and then grabbed my arm and pulled me down the road to her house.

"Wait-, I have to get home, what are you doing? Oww." I complained.

Pamela said nothing and yanked me forward, I resisted and pulled away. She grabbed my hair, the nerve of her!

If I fought she pulled my hair, she knew I had a sensitive scalp.

"Why?" I asked her.

She bit her lip in worry, "I'm sorry Grace, but I don't know what to do, so I'm taking you to my parents."

"You could have just asked me to come?" I said hoping she would let go so I could get away.

"You would just run." She said with certainty.

Dang, sometimes it was bad if your best friend knew you to well. We arrived at the Diggs house on time.

My jacket got caught on one of Mrs. Diggs many rose bushes. I pulled it free leaving a rip. She led me inside and into the kitchen where her parents were.

"Oh, hi Pamela-" Mr. Diggs stopped when he saw me.

"Pamela what are you doing?" Mrs. Diggs asked in a deadly whisper.

She relinquished her hold on my hair and replied, "She knows."

The Diggs didn't react like I expected them to.

"About the-" Her dad asked.

"Yes." She said.

"All of it?" Her mom asked.

Pamela shook her head, "She knows enough to be dangerous though."

Mr. Diggs sighed deeply, "I'll go get her parents." And he left.

I took a step towards the door. Mrs. Diggs blocked it. I turned the other way, back to the living room, Pamela blocked it.

Just great.

I took a run at Pamela, hoping I could overpower her before her mom could react. Like expected, I bowled her over, shouting a quick sorry over my shoulder and launched myself out the front door.

I ran passed the rose bushes and almost cleared the drive way when I felt something come over me. I was frozen in place, I couldn't move, something had stopped me.

Mrs. Diggs came running over holding an amulet/necklace at me. It was emitting a strange blue light that was enveloping me. I tried to run but the power still held me motionless.

With horror I realized what it was. It was a Miracle. Those were illegal, she should have it destroyed.

"I am sorry dear." Mrs. Diggs said as she dragged me, still frozen, into the house. As soon as we were in, she locked the doors. She turned the freezing charm off.

Pamela was on the couch nursing her arm. I must have bumped it when I ran. I felt a wave of sympathy.

Unexpectedly they didn't look angry, just piteous. I turned to Mrs. Diggs.

"You have a Miracle. Those are illegal. I could have died, if you left it on longer." I said accusingly.

She laughed, "Miracles can't kill you; they help you."

"I could get sick, or grow an extra limb." I said keeping my eye on the amulet.

She laughed harder, "Is that what their teaching you in school, now?"

"It's okay Grace, it was a shock to me too when I first found out." Pamela said sympathetically.

I didn't know what to say, I was terribly confused and wanted to go home.

The doorbell rang, Pamela rushed to answer it.

"Trisha, why'd you lock the door?" Mr. Diggs addressed his wife.

"This one—she pointed at me—tried to run." She replied.

I looked up at my parents with shock, anger, bewilderment. Heck, I didn't know what to feel.

My dad turned to me, "Alright Grace, we didn't want you to find out this way, but we have a lot to tell you."

Everyone looked at me to see what I would do, "All say." I answered.

They all laughed.

"Okay, let's go back a few years, the white queen was going to have a baby…"

**Cliff Hanger for now…*evil cackle***

**I found this little saying that I think you will enjoy. So enjoy.**

_**Sometimes in my tears I drown, but I never let it get me down,**_

_**so when negativity surrounds**_

_**I know some day it'll all turn around,**_

_**Because all my life I've been waiting for, I've been praying for,**_

_**for the people to say,**_

_**that we don't wanna fight no more, they're be no more wars,**_

_**and our children will play**_

_**One Day, Matisyahu**_


	27. Help Please and Quotes for entertainment

**Hi, it's me again. I hope you like the little poem thing in the last chapter.  
**

**Guys, (and gals) I need help. When I started this story I didn't think I would finish it. It was just thoughts at the top of my head. I didn't even think Chess and Anna were going to have a relationship. Heck, I didn't even plan having Raven in the story.**

**So once again, I think this story is getting long and really don't want to make it drag, so… If any of you have an idea of how this story will end I would really use it if it was good. I'll even dedicate the story to you. For example I don't mind if Alice loses the battle and gets sent back to earth. I also don't mind if she wins and becomes queen. I even don't mind if Grace becomes queen. I need ideas.**

**Please. **

**So, I didn't want to make this just an author's note, so I am going to add interesting quotes so yall will be entertained.**

**Oh and I am so sorry that I forgot to mention you **AlleyKatz. It was** my loss and you can shout at me in Japanese if you want to. Thanks for favoring my story.**

"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."  
― Oscar Wilde

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."  
― Dr. Seuss

"Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."  
― Bernard M. Baruch

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything."  
― Mark Twain

"Be the change that you wish to see in the world."  
― Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."  
― J.K. Rowling, _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_

"A room without books is like a body without a soul."  
― Marcus Tullius Cicero

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."  
― Robert Frost

"Without music, life would be a mistake."  
― Friedrich Nietzsche, _Twilight of the Idols_

**That one was mentioned in the movie HERE COMES THE BOOM it had Kevin James in it.**

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."  
― Albert Einstein

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present."  
― Bil Keane

"All that is gold does not glitter,  
Not all those who wander are lost;  
The old that is strong does not wither,  
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,  
A light from the shadows shall spring;  
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,  
The crownless again shall be king."  
― J.R.R. Tolkien, _The Fellowship of the Ring_

"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow."  
― Mark Twain


	28. Anna is suspicous

**First off, thank you for replying to my desperate plea. To my guest reviewer, I was being sarcastic when I said you could shout at me in Japanese. It was a creative way to say sorry for not mentioning you and feel free to yell at me. You weren't actually typing in Japanese. ****On the other hand if you were being sarcastic in your review then I apologize for my explanation above.**

**Second off, thank you for the ideas. I like them and will dedicated the story to you. **lydiathetigeropean I give you dedication rights. **Sorry if Hatter came on a bit harsh, but in his defense, he doesn't want to get caught with someone Chess just met, he is very cautious. **

**And… I would like to introduce a new reviewer****...-Drum roll please****- and the new reviewer is…. **_**Sallyway. **_**Thank you for reviewing. Whenever I eat asparagus I will remember you.**

**And not to be forgotten, I have somebody who alerted my story.** **Beckerina** **thank you so much and when you write a fanfic I promise I will read it. Many thanks to all yall.**

**Anyone seen the movie Mulan? I love it. I forgot about it and then recently discovered it again. **

**Guess what? Today is Australia day. On Saturday. January 26. My dad just told me. Since I have never been to Australia, any Australians please forgive my lack of knowledge. I believe it has something to do with a port somewhere off of Sydney. **

**So I'll stop rambling and on with what you came for, the story.**

**Anna/Raven**

Allison and Hadley went over to talk with Chess, so I decided to give them some privacy. I knew from there facial expressions that Hadley and maybe Allison didn't like me very much, especially Hadley.

I like the Allison girl well enough. She had short red hair and a young personality. It reminded me of myself at that age.

I glanced over to the trio. From what I could tell they were arguing. From the glances they were throwing at me, it seemed it was about me. Bummer.

I fidgeted around the make shift camp, picking up our few possessions and putting them back down again. Then I heard the arguing stop and turned to face them.

Hadley looked a little disgruntled, Chess was obviously worried, but Allison was calm. She looked the most sure of herself.

"Uh Anna, could you come here for a moment?" Hadley asked me.

I complied and walked over to where he was standing. He indicated that I should sit, and I did so.

Hadley pulled his fingers through his hair, "Okay, where do I begin?" He said tiredly.

What? What were they going to explain? "How about at the beginning." I stated.

Chess let out a nervous laugh, I took that as a sign that things were going well.

"There are people after us, people who would kill us." Hadley paused for effect.

I studied them closely, they didn't look like criminals. "Are you criminals?" I asked. As soon as I said it I mentally cursed. You can't ask if a criminal is a criminal, they would just say no.

"Sorta." Chess told me. That was surprising. Then I thought of something Rick always used to say. 'A_h the plot thickens'_.

"You see- he began again- we are on the run for something we didn't do."

I just stared. "So… you're innocent?" I said skeptically.

"Yes." Allison said eagerly.

"Isn't that what all criminals say?"

Hadley spoke, "Well yes, but we're really innocent."

Were they serious? I really didn't want to think badly of Chess, he seemed so nice.

"So let me get this straight… - I looked at Chess, he nodded at me to continue—you are wanted dead, police are searching for you, and on top of all that you're innocent?" Sarcasm was practically dripping from my voice.

They all looked put out, "Well, when you put it that way." Allison said begrudgingly. I couldn't help but think there was something odd about her. Something familiar.

I pushed that thought away, not wanting to revisit bad memories.

"Guys, no offense but I think I need a bit more information if I can believe you." Did they really want me to believe them with no evidence?

Allison frowned, "Okay, here are the facts. We are on the run from people who will kill us. The cards?" She said looking at Hadley.

"The cards." He agreed.

She began again. "Okay, so the cards are after us and want us dead. We haven't done anything, and we need to get to the Red Queens palace. If you want to come with us, you can. If you don't then scram."

Chess looked surprised, "That was actually pretty well put together." He praised her.

She huffed annoyed, "Don't sound so surprised."

I paused, "Are you victims of bad press?"

"You could say that." Allison replied mysteriously.

Another thought struck me, how come I haven't heard of them? Were those even their names?

I sighed, "How come I haven't heard of you?"

"The government doesn't want to alarm the people and I am almost certain that you have heard of us." Chess answered with a grim smile.

Great, that made it easier.

I weighed my options. On one hand, I had no home to go to, and they were willing to take me along. I even liked Chess. On the other hand they were possibly liars and criminals. But then why would they want to take me along?

"Have you reached a decision yet?" Hadley whined.

I ignored him and directed my question at Chess, "If I decline your offer and stay here, will the people after you hurt me?"

He hesitated, "In the best case scenario, if you play clueless you have a pretty good chance that you can escape without harm."

"What is the worst case scenario?" I demanded.

There was a loud pause.

"Death." He finally said.

That put a damper on things.

"But it's really likely that it won't happen." Hadley said.

"I don't think I have much of a choice then. I want to come with you." I said confidently.

"Anna please remember," Allison urged me. "If we are caught then the penalty is automatically death.

"I still want to come with you."

"Well, then we best get going then." Chess sighed.

There wasn't much to pack up, so we tried our best to get rid of the evidence of the camp. We threw pine straw over the fire and Chess tried his best to erase our foot prints.

In less than ten minutes we were trekking through the forest. I tried to start a conversation.

"So, are your names your real names?" I asked Allison.

"What?" She asked me.

"Is Hadley's name really Hadley? Is your name really Allison? Is Chester's name really Chester?"

"Nope." She said cheerily, while stepping over a fallen log.

"Alright, are you going to tell me what your real names are?" I tried again.

"Nope." She repeated with a grin.

I gave her a dirty look and turned to Hadley. "Where are we going?"

Without skipping a beat he answered, "The center of Wonderland."

"You do know that if you say 'Wonderland' you could be jailed?" I told him.

He frowned, "Why?"

"The queen doesn't want people to dwell on what our land used to be. She wants it to have a fresh start."

He snorted decisively "Okay, what do you call it now?"

"Umm…. We don't really call it anything."

He stopped walking and looked at me, "Seriously?"

I nodded and he resumed walking, "We just refer to the quadrants or if worse comes to worse, the queen's kingdom."

We lapsed into silence until we got to a stream. We refilled our water skins and took a breather.

"What are you going to do once we get to the queens palace?" I asked.

"Uh, dunno. Chess?" Allison asked Chester. He shrugged and took another swig. "Hadley?" I asked alarmed. If they had no plan, then what was I going to do? Hang out with a bunch of outlaws?

He laughed at me, "You know, I actually didn't think we would make it this far."

I groaned and put my head in my hands. I felt Chess put an arm around me. I felt very warm all of a sudden.

"We have a rough idea, but it would probably be best if you didn't know." He said reassuringly.

He then moved away and I felt the warmth leave me. We continued walking without speech for the rest of the day.

We made camp in the middle of another clearing and Hadley made a fire. Me and Allison collected pine straw to sleep on. Chess went to refill our water supply and find food.

We ate some meager berries for dinner. They were sour and not in season. The one good thing that came with the berries was a reminder to dye my hair. I probably didn't need it yet but it was good to be cautious.

I rose early, before the sun was up. I looked around the area for some fresh peanut butter berries. It took me awhile but I found some. I mushed them and needed them into my locks.

As I was about to go back, I heard a crack. "CRACK!"

It was fairly close, I didn't dare move. The birds weren't out yet so the woods were deathly still and quiet. What had made that sound?

After taking deep breaths and convincing myself there probably wasn't a jabberwocky behind me, I turned around. Nothing.

That somehow scared me more than if there was something there.

I headed back to camp extra alert.

**Chess P.O.V**

If it weren't for my good hearing I wouldn't have heard anyone get up. But since I did have good hearing I did hear someone move.

It was Anna. Why was she up so early? She was walking cautiously out of the clearing. Where was she going?

I followed her being quiet as a cat.

She seemed to be looking for something. I watched her find a berry bush half hidden against another bush. She took berries and dripped the juice into her hair. What the heck?

She was really beautiful. The sun was just rising and glinting off of her hair in shimmery waves. She was nice to talk to and had a beautiful voice. She even liked to fish. I sighed happily.

Wait a second, she seemed to be done. She would turn around and see me. I hurriedly turned around and was about to run, when I stepped on a stick. "CRACK!" It echoed eerily throughout the woods.

I waited for her to see me, but she didn't see anything. I turned around. She was stalk still, not moving an inch.

Ah man, I scared her. Hatter would be laughing at me if he were here. I thanked my lucky stars and ran, this time cautiously, back to camp.

I pretended to go back to sleep. Ten minutes later, I heard her come back. Good. But what was she doing? Did she have something to hide? Or was she crazy?

Was I crazy? Maybe, but I would have to find out more information before I questioned her.

I sighed and got up. It would be a long day, and we had to get moving. Bugger.

**First off, thank you for replying to my desperate plea. To my guest reviewer, I was being sarcastic when I said you could shout at me in Japanese. It was a creative way to say sorry for not mentioning you and feel free to yell at me. You weren't actually typing in Japanese. ****On the other hand if you were being sarcastic in your review then I apologize for my explanation above.**

**Second off, thank you for the ideas. I like them and will dedicated the story to you. **lydiathetigeropean I give you dedication rights. **Sorry if Hatter came on a bit harsh, but in his defense, he doesn't want to get caught with someone Chess just met, he is very cautious. **

**And… I would like to introduce a new reviewer****...-Drum roll please****- and the new reviewer is…. **_**Sallyway. **_**Thank you for reviewing. Whenever I eat asparagus I will remember you.**

**And not to be forgotten, I have somebody who alerted my story.** **Beckerina** **thank you so much and when you write a fanfic I promise I will read it. Many thanks to all yall.**

**Anyone seen the movie Mulan? I love it. I forgot about it and then recently discovered it again. **

**Guess what? Yesterday was Australia day. On Saturday. January 26. My dad just told me. Since I have never been to Australia, any Australians please forgive my lack of knowledge. I believe it has something to do with a port somewhere off of Sydney. **

**I copied this message to the bottom of the story, so you guys would read it. I find that when I read a fanfic, I don't like to read what's at the top. But when there is nothing else, I read the bottom. So sorry to those who have already read my authors note.**


	29. Dating the Queen

**As I promised earlier, I will mention anyone who reviews or follows or favorites. Hint, Hint. So as promised I have a new follower and favorite. **

**Dreamer006 gets virtual and figurative cupcakes, or as I recently Googled, strawberry pencils. **

**Strawberry pencils are these cool little candies that are sold in England as far as I know. They remind me of Twizzlers.**

**So I want to speed this story up so expect some time changing.**

**Chess P.O.V**

As we walked through the forest—you wouldn't think a forest could be so big—I kept wondering about Anna Rose. Something was nagging at the corners of my brain, but I just couldn't put it together.

So I just stared at her trying to figure something that I don't even know out. It was a good thing I was in the back of the group; I was probably looking pretty creepy the way I was staring.

So that was how I spent the day, being creepy.

**A few days later…**

We were finally out of the forest. It was a relief; I was getting tired of no talking. After the first day of walking, no one had anything to talk about. One worded answers were all that we got.

At first Anna tried to find out more about who we were, but she stopped when it became clear we weren't going to tell her anything. Everyone lapsed into a silence and was immersed in their own thoughts.

It was also a relief, because we lost the trackers. Hatter said they would eventually find us, but somehow got deterred. That meant we wouldn't have to get up at dawn and walk all day and go to sleep after the sun went down.

None of us were used to the constant pushing, but the one who was suffering the most was Alice. I know she tried not to show it, but she was tiring. She probably had never done this kind of exercise in her life.

When she was little and got tired, we carried her. Nowadays I don't think she would take kindly to being carried.

So it was good we were out of the forest.

**Hatter P.O.V**

We were finally out of the forest. We were close to the Queens castle. We need to make plans.]

I turned to our little group, "We need to make plans."

"Naw….Really?" Anna smirked at me.

She was really starting to grow on me. She had a sarcastic sense of humor that rivaled mine. I smirked back at her.

"That means you get to wait over there why we discuss top secret plans." I pointed to a space about twenty yards away.

She gave me a dirty look and complied.

When I was sure she was out of earshot I began. "The queen won't know what will happen. She doesn't expect that Alice will be back in Wonderland."

They nodded, "We need to take her out, everyone else is afraid of her. They will do whatever she says on threat of death."

"How do you propose we do that?" Chess asked.

I shrugged; I hadn't exactly expected this adventure to go this smoothly.

"What are her weaknesses?" Alice asked. I thought for a moment, what did was a weakness of the queen? She wasn't very weak, everyone knew that.

"Nothing." I deadpanned. "She is heartless, no one has ever given her love besides her sister and even that's gone now."

Her forehead wrinkled in confusion, "Didn't she have loving parents?"

"No. Her mother died in her birth and her father died from a broken heart barely a year after." Chess told her.

"Her sister was in line to rule the diamond quadrant, and she the heart quadrant."

"Wait, weren't they both born in the diamond quadrant?" Alice asked.

"Yes. I forgot you don't know this stuff, your grandmother was the ruler of the diamond and your grandfather was the ruler of the heart quadrant. They each got a quadrant." I explained.

"Why didn't anyone but my mother love her?" Alice asked.

"Your mother pretty much raised her, she was 7 years older than your aunt, and she had to grow up fast. When the time was right for your mother to take on the responsibilities of the kingdom your aunt was, well for lack of a better term, neglected."

Chess cleared his throat, "No one ever tried to relate to her, they thought she would just be like her sister. She wasn't, your mother was gifted with good looks and brains. When your aunt saw that people treated her differently, she became short tempered and angry all the time. People did try to teach her the ways of the kingdom so she could rule the heart quadrant when she was ready. Her sister never had as much time with her as before, always brushing her off saying she had royal business, but at least she saw her and talked to her in a civil manor."

I picked up the story, "That all changed when your mother began seeing somebody."

Chess nodded in agreement, "Your mother sometimes would go for days without seeing her sister. Her sister grew even more bitter. Though we didn't know it at the time, your aunt Red was plotting to take over Wonderland, even overthrow her own sister."

"How do you know all of this?" Alice asked.

I smiled grimly, "We were royal advisers. I was captain of the guard and Chess was a teacher of Red's."

She glared at Chess, "You were mean to her?"

He shook his head, "I didn't do anything but teach her history, I think she didn't like my subject and in turn didn't like me."

She nodded satisfied.

Then Anna came walking over, "Look, you've been talking forever, I would _love_ to get moving again."

Then Alice gasped, "Love." She said

"What?" I asked her.

"Her weakness, its love."

Chess sent Anna a sympathetic glance, "Sorry, just a few more minutes." She sighed and trotted back over to her little spot.

I waited a second to make sure she was gone, "What do you mean Alice?"

"You said she hasn't been loved. Let's sneak into the castle, flatter her, and then we get her a boyfriend."

I laughed, "Where are we going to get a willing boyfriend for the queen?"

Chess and Alice both looked at me for a long moment. I stopped laughing and started coughing. Oh no, they couldn't be serious. Could they?

"No." I said stubbornly.

"C'mon, Hatter. Just pretend to like her and then boom. We get her." Alice cajoled.

"NO." I said with more fervor.

"Hatter, be reasonable. You're the best person for the job." Chess told me.

"No. And why can't you do it?" I asked him, sure I had him.

He gave one of his trademark grins "As you probably recall, I was her teacher and she could recognize me."

"Um…" I was searching for a reason why I couldn't do it, "… I'm um…Too old for her. Yes, that's it. She would think it would be gross if I dated her."

Chess frowned, knowing I was right. I grinned with triumph. Then Alice shook her finger.

"No you're not, ten years have passed, remember?" She said annoyingly.

I growled in frustration. "Pleeeasee?" Alice and Chess chorused. "It's for the good of the cause." Alice added.

I sighed, "Alright." I would not like it but Alice was right.

"Let's get moving again." I turned to collect Anna. But she wasn't there.

"Uh oh." Alice mumbled.

"ANNA!" Chess yelled worriedly.

Where was she?


	30. Moving, again

**Anna Rose P.O.V**

I was bored. I was sitting here for who knows how long while they discussed secret plans. I had already interrupted them twice and they still didn't get the picture.

I thought briefly about running. It seemed like a good idea, it might be fun to scare them too. On the other hand, I had no idea where I was and running could be a very bad idea.

I waited another few minutes, I tapped my foot impatiently. Hiding was starting to seem like a really good idea. Maybe I would go to that oak tree and hide behind it and see how they would react. That, I thought with a brilliant smile, was a good plan.

So I ran to the oak tree and hid behind it waiting for them to notice my disappearance. While I was peering around the thick trunk, strong hands grabbed my shoulders. My first instinct was to cry out but my outcry was smothered by someone's hand. I kicked but they had taken me by surprise and I was hugely out numbered.

I looked at my captors, they were all palace guards. At their feet were little box like creatures with pointy legs. I realized with growing horror that they were machines.

"Hey boss, looky what we found." Said the one who first grabbed me. The boss looked at me; he was just a big as the rest of them but didn't seem as malicious. He actually seemed disinterested in the whole affair.

He sighed and marched over to me. "Girl, my men are going to let you go if you answer some simple questions, Alright?" He said softly. I nodded furiously.

"Alright, McCauley let go of her." He commanded to the soldier who was covering my mouth. He did so and I took a deep breath. Maybe if I pretended to be a lost helpless girl they would let me be. I wouldn't tell them about Chess and the others. Especially not Chess.

"Okay, have you had any visitors come to your village lately?" He asked me.

I was confused, my village? Then it all snapped into place like a taught rubber band. He thought I was a native of a nearby village. He wanted to know if I had seen Chess and the rest. I nodded, slowly thinking up a plan.

"You have?" He seemed surprised. I nodded again.

"They were here only yesterday. But…" I trailed off thinking up a lie.

"But WHAT?" He said eagerly.

"They went back through the woods." I said pointing back the way they had come.

Many of the soldiers swore and kicked the dirt. The commander was muttering to himself. He finally collected himself and brought his attention back to me. "What did the visitors look like?" he asked tiredly.

"There were three women traveling together." I said with a tight smile. Hadley would either hate this or love this. "They all had pale skin and long hair; they said that they were escaping some tragedy at Glass Town."

The captain nodded in understanding. He turned to his men and started conferring with them. I brushed the hair out of my face, why did I decide to hide? Why didn't I just stay within sight of Chess and Alison and Hadley? I was so stupid.

Then again, in retrospect, if I didn't hide the soldiers would have found us anyway. Just a few more yards and they would have seen Chess, Hadley, and Alison. Funny how things work out. I mused.

I tapped the captain on the shoulder, "Uh sir, can I go now? I have to get back soon." I lied smoothly. He nodded distractedly.

I turned to leave when I heard someone calling me, "ANNA!?" It was Chess. I paled, and turned back to the guard, "My friends." I said in explanation. He gave me a funny look but finally nodded and turned back to his men.

I wasted no time in getting out of there. I waited until I was out of sight and then high tailed it to where my friends were calling me. _My friends,_ I thought amusingly. _Didn't expect that to happen._

When I got back to where I was before, I saw that _my friends_ were all looking for me and calling me. I felt unexpectedly touched, they cared that much.

"I'm over here." I called.

Chess ran over and hugged me, "I thought they got you." I shook my head in answer. Hadley and Alison came rushing over as well. When Chess let go of me Alison hugged me too. I flushed in embarrassment.

Then I turned to Hadley, he and I shared awkward glances. Then Alison just blurted, "Oh, just hug her already!"

He gave a fake look of annoyance, "If you insist." Then he tackled me into a bear hug. I smiled inwardly, he really did care.

After a minute I tapped him on the shoulder, "Uh Hadley, you can let go now." He released me. We were all grinning big. My smile faded, I needed to tell them about the trackers.

"As fun as this was, we need to get moving." I told them.

"What?" They asked me. I sighed impatiently. Then I relayed everything I heard.

Needless to say we ducked back into the kept walking. We passed a lot of towns but never went into them for fear of being seen.

**Sorry for the short chapter. You wouldn't believe the homework that teachers give out. Nothing interesting happens in this chapter. I am hoping to finish this up soon, so expect a quick finish.**


	31. Roses and proof

**lizzieturtle9570 thanks for your review. It's really meaningful. Thanks for the constructive criticism paradox1. I need to work on going back and editing. Maybe I'll have some time when school gets out. *sigh* I get out on March 1****st****. Then I will have three weeks. Then comes high school.* another sigh***

***sigh* I do not, nor shall I ever own Alice in Wonderland. Right Mr. Carroll?**

**Grace**

My parents had just explained to me that Alice wasn't evil, the mad hatter and the Cheshire cat was a bunch of justified rebels, and that the queen was a tyrant.

Guess what? I thought they were crazy. I mean what would you do if your parents came up to you and said that everything you know is wrong? It's like saying flowers can't sing.

The Digg's and my parents were all sitting around me trying to gauge my reaction. I sighed heavily, trying to find a way to believe them.

My mom bit her lip nervously, "Honey, I know it's a lot to take in, don't be afraid to ask questions."

I ignored her, trying to justify the queen. "Why should I believe you?" I asked my dad. My dad was usually very rational. He always needed proof in order to believe something unusual. My dad ran his fingers through his hair thinking. Suddenly he jumped up and went into the kitchen.

I heard some rummaging around in the room. He came back with a small pocket mirror. He set it on the coffee table and then looked at me. I waited for him to do something. Nobody moved. A full minute must have passed before I caved in and asked him what it was.

"What is it?" I asked with clenched teeth.

He beamed brilliantly, "I am so glad you asked Grace, it is a pocket mirror." He said happily. I stared at him obviously wondering if he was crazy.

"No duh." I told him in a mocking tone. To my credit, he did seem a little put out with my sarcasm. In a flat tone he said, "It can let you see different parts of Wonderland." I paled when he said Wonderland. It was a forbidden word. What was he thinking? No one else seemed affected; maybe I was having a bad dream. Maybe I would wake up and it would all be over.

My dad spoke softly into the little mirror. He turned the glass towards me so I could see. What I saw was almost like a moving picture. There were men, women, and even children working in a mine. They were covered in filth.

When I looked closer I realized that it was a diamond mine. There were palace guards watching the people closely. Suddenly a little kid pitched foreword in exhaustion.

The guards shouted at him to continue working, but he couldn't get up. The girl next to him was trying to haul him up and get him to work again, but he was shaking to bad. The guard yanked him up by his shirt and shouted in his face. The boy didn't react. The guard dragged the boy out of sight, the girl ran after him crying. One of the guards grabbed her by the hair and tossed her back towards the place she'd been working.

She tried to run again but woman next to her kept a firm hold on her arm, until she stopped fighting to go after him. My father closed the mirror.

I looked up at him with wide eyes. In a choked voice I said, "The queen wouldn't let that happen. She probably doesn't know." My dad just shook his head in exasperation. My mother took the mirror and murmured into it. She turned it towards me.

Now I was looking at a village. It was obvious it was a poor place; the people were dressed in rags and I didn't see any children in sight. The mirror zoomed in on a window, it was frosted with cold. Inside the house, I saw a family clustered around a small loaf of bread. I waited for the mother to place more food on the table, but as the seconds passed she just sat down and broke the bread into impossibly small pieces.

My mother pulled the mirror away from my eyes and whispered into it again. This time I saw extensive finery and décor. There was a long table and filled with mouthwatering food. There was only one place that they would have this kind of eloquence, the palace. People were eating savagely, but at the top of the table was the queen.

She was eating suckling pig and some kind of tender animal. Maybe a bandersnatch? It was nearing the end of the meal but the table was still full of food. Monkeys dressed in tailcoats came and swept the food off the table and into trash bags. They were obviously hungry, they couldn't keep their eyes off the food.

I couldn't believe my eyes, she was wasting food when villages were starving! I looked back into glass to see one of the monkeys whip out his hand and grab a chunk of bread. The queen stood up abruptly with murder in her eyes. I couldn't believe this. I had never seen this side of the queen before.

She walked over to the offending monkey and slapped him hard. He tried to give the bread back but she wouldn't take it. She made him eat it. He did so slowly and cautiously. She motioned to her guards, and they grabbed him by the shoulders. The guards didn't look happy, more like tired and weary. Like this kind of thing happened often.

The monkey realizing his fate fought and screamed silent screams. I was glad the mirror didn't have sound. The guards dragged him away.

My mother closed the mirror. I didn't realize that I had been crying until a tear fell on my hand.

"What happened to that monkey?" I whispered. I guess I already knew, but didn't want to believe it. My parents gazed solemnly at me.

"Beheaded." Mr. Diggs said emotionlessly. I nodded horrified. "Do you believe us now?" Pamela asked.

I nodded trying to cope with what I saw. Everything was wrong. I looked at her with knew determination. "We need to do something."

"We are," said Mrs. Diggs, "a lot of people aren't loyal to the queen, just scared of her. We have a steady resistance going waiting to strike."

My brow scrunched confused, "Why hasn't anybody put up a fight?"

"Some people have, but were dealt with quietly. Now we're just waiting for the right time."

"When is the right time?" I asked her.

"When Alice comes back."

**Meanwhile, Chess P.O.V**

We were coming up on a small town. We needed a place to stay for the night, everyone was tired. I looked around for a safe house. I spotted one, you could tell because of the roses planted in the yard.

A while ago, the resistance decided that if there house was safe from no resistance members then they would plant roses so other resistance members would have a safe haven.

I headed towards the house leading my group. Alice and Anna Rose were as good as zombies, they were pretty much asleep on their feet.

I heard quiet murmuring. I knocked softly. Everything went silent.

A little girl answered the door; it was obvious she recognized me and Hatter, I got poised to run. "Well I'll be…" she whispered.

She called back into the house, "Hey guys, you'll never guess who's here." She motioned for us to come inside.

**Sorry for the shorty chapter. Sorry for the wait too. **

**Guess whose house it is…**

***I am so sorry guys. I messed up and called Anna Rose, Raven. It was an accident and I deeply apologize. He still thinks she is Anna Rose. But hey, good job with catching my mistake.***

**Here's a little sneak peek of the next chapter in honor of the people who caught my mistake.**

**Pamela**

We were trying to convince Grace, that the queen was evil. It wasn't an easy feat but using a miracle mirror I think we convinced her. What Grace saw was horrible, but that wasn't the worst of what the queen had done. If only she knew…

My parents were discussing what to do next when I heard the knock on the door. It wasn't pounding like soldiers coming but it wasn't normal either. It was tired and slow.

My parent's gazes flew to me. We both knew what was next. If it was just the common soldier, it was likely they would hesitate when a child answered the door. If it was someone who wouldn't care if I was a child or adult they wouldn't have even bothered knocking. I got up to answer the door.

My parent moved without a sound motioning to Grace's folks and Grace herself to come to kitchen to hide.

I took a deep breath and opened the door.

I rubbed my eyes. I couldn't believe who was at the door.

_Wicked timing._ I thought.

"Well I'll be…" I said in wonder. My parents wouldn't believe who was here. Heck, I could barely believe it.

On the doorstep was none other than the Mad Hatter and what I could guess was the Cheshire Cat.

I beckoned them inside and called back to my parents, "Hey guys, you'll never guess who's here."

There were two others besides the Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat. They looked like they were sleep walking. I wondered who they were but decided to hold my questions till later.

My mother came out cautiously, but when she saw the new arrivals she broke out into a full smile. My dad came out next leading Grace and her folks.

He started to smile then stopped. He marched up to the Mad Hatter and said in a clear firm voice, "What is the one thing that people find surprising about you?"

I stared at my dad is confusion, why would he ask that?

Instead of questioning it the Mad Hatter broke into a broad grin and said in an equally clear firm voice, "The one thing that most people find surprising about me is the fact that I don't like tea."

I wanted to laugh. The Mad Hatter, not like tea? That was crazy talk, but then again, he that was how he got his name. Maybe it was true.

My dad seemed to accept this and let them rest on the couch.

I whispered to my dad, "Why'd you ask him that?"

He smiled and whispered back, "It was a code we worked out years ago." I nodded and went to get water for everyone.

After I had distributed drinks, the Cheshire cat spoke, "Look Jim, **(Pamela's dad) **I know you want an explanation, but can it wait until morning? We're exhausted. We have been walking all night."

My dad nodded, but I could tell he wanted to talk. My mother led them to the space guest rooms and made a bed on the couch.

Then Grace and her parents left. It was already 4am. Well so much for getting a good night rest.

**Hopefully that made up for my mistake.**

**Read and Review.**


	32. Raven is Revealed

**I have a new follower/ alert **

**Thank you **blackballistae.

Thanks all of you.

Okay this is a repeat of the last chapter sneak peak.

**Pamela**

We were trying to convince Grace, that the queen was evil. It wasn't an easy feat but using a miracle mirror I think we convinced her. What Grace saw was horrible, but that wasn't the worst of what the queen had done. If only she knew…

My parents were discussing what to do next when I heard the knock on the door. It wasn't pounding like soldiers coming but it wasn't normal either. It was tired and slow.

My parent's gazes flew to me. We both knew what was next. If it was just the common soldier, it was likely they would hesitate when a child answered the door. If it was someone who wouldn't care if I was a child or adult they wouldn't have even bothered knocking. I got up to answer the door.

My parent moved without a sound motioning to Grace's folks and Grace herself to come to kitchen to hide.

I took a deep breath and opened the door.

I rubbed my eyes. I couldn't believe who was at the door.

_Wicked timing._ I thought.

"Well I'll be…" I said in wonder. My parents wouldn't believe who was here. Heck, I could barely believe it.

On the doorstep was none other than the Mad Hatter and what I could guess was the Cheshire Cat.

I beckoned them inside and called back to my parents, "Hey guys, you'll never guess who's here."

There were two others besides the Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat. They looked like they were sleep walking. I wondered who they were but decided to hold my questions till later.

My mother came out cautiously, but when she saw the new arrivals she broke out into a full smile. My dad came out next leading Grace and her folks.

He started to smile then stopped. He marched up to the Mad Hatter and said in a clear firm voice, "What is the one thing that people find surprising about you?"

I stared at my dad is confusion, why would he ask that?

Instead of questioning it the Mad Hatter broke into a broad grin and said in an equally clear firm voice, "The one thing that most people find surprising about me is the fact that I don't like tea."

I wanted to laugh. The Mad Hatter, not like tea? That was crazy talk, but then again, he that was how he got his name. Maybe it was true.

My dad seemed to accept this and let them rest on the couch.

I whispered to my dad, "Why'd you ask him that?"

He smiled and whispered back, "It was a code we worked out years ago." I nodded and went to get water for everyone.

After I had distributed drinks, the Cheshire cat spoke, "Look Jim, **(Pamela's dad) **I know you want an explanation, but can it wait until morning? We're exhausted. We have been walking all night."

My dad nodded, but I could tell he wanted to talk. My mother led them to the space guest rooms and made a bed on the couch.

Then Grace and her parents left. It was already 4am. Well so much for getting a good night rest.

**Hatter**

After we got in the safe house, the little girl's father came up to me and asked me a question that took me way back. Back when we were just starting out on the rebel business.

"What is the one thing that people find surprising about you?"

I smiled and knew the answer immediately. Chess knew it too. Most people didn't know that I actually didn't love tea. I mean, I never hated it. I'm just much more of a coffee person.

It was a code that we created so no spies would impersonate people. It was just like old times hearing my question again.

"The one thing that most people find surprising about me is the fact that I don't like tea."

The girl who answered the door was looking at me funny but I ignored her.

What? Why do people find it so surprising? I only drank tea so Alice wouldn't feel left out. I mean sure it was warm, but coffee was way more amazing. And it had caffeine.

The girl who answered the door handed out ice cold water which I took eagerly. Chess was conferring with her father.

Soon I was led to a guest room and as soon as I hit the pillows I was asleep.

The next morning we had a lovely breakfast with the Diggs. Chess explained our situation, even the part about Anna not knowing about Alice.

Now we were discussing what to do next.

"Alice has to defeat the queen. It is her birthright." Mr. Diggs said.

I nodded tiredly. Then Mrs. Diggs handed me the most wonderfullest thing in Wonderland. A cup of coffee.

I took it and downed half of it. It burned going down, but it perked me up immediately.

"We need a way to get Alice to the queen without any protection." I said.

"We have a rough idea, actually." Chess said smirking. I covered my head with my hands begging Chess not to tell them.

"It was Alice's idea actually." Chess was enjoying this; he wanted to drag it out too.

"Why don't you tell them Hatter?" Chess asked me.

I took a deep breath and mustered up my courage. "I am going to date the queen."

I waited for the laughing, none came. I looked up at them, much to Chess's chagrin they were nodding thoughtfully.

Haha. Hatter 1, Chess 0.

"That's actually a good idea." said.

"If you can get close to her." Mr. Diggs added. It did need building upon, but it was a good forethought. Alice came stumbling in groggily. Mrs. Diggs handed her a cup of coffee too. She took it gratefully.

She took a sip and turned green. She swallowed it with difficulty. "Do you want something else dear?" Mrs. Diggs said with a smile.

"Just tea, thanks." She told her.

I laughed. "Where's Anna?" I asked her, taking a sip of my own cup of joe.

"She's coming." And true to her word about a minute later Anna walked in. She looked completely refreshed.

"Wassup?" she said, when she saw Chess was staring at her. The Missus handed her a cup of coffee which she took gratefully.

"Okay are we all here?" I said.

"Wait, where's the little girl?" Chess asked her parents.

"Oh, Pamela has school." Well, we would have to fill her in later then. Mr. Diggs laid out all some maps on the kitchen table. "Alrighty." He sighed. "Let's get started." He turned to us.

"Where is Alice?" Mr. Diggs asked. Alice glanced at me, with a quick look at Anna. Snap, we forgot about Anna. "Uh, Chess would you like to explain a few things to Anna?" He nodded and pulled her into the other room.

We heard their conversation anyway. "Okay Anna, I know we haven't been the most truthful to you. But I think we should explain some stuff. We need your word that you won't go get a guard or alert the queen in some way if we tell you the truth."

Instead of her word, she asked, "What do you have to do with Alice?" Her voice was dangerous. Chess sighed audibly. We might have to let her go, shame, Chess really liked her.

"That depends," Chess said vaguely. "Whether you can keep a secret."

Anna was silent but must have agreed, because Chess started to explain. "My name isn't Chester and Hadley's name isn't Hadley."

She snorted derisibly, "That I already figured out." I walked into the living room too; I wanted to see how she would take this. The Diggs stayed in the kitchen.

"I'm sure you know about how the queen wants Alice dead." He stated.

"Of course."

"Well, she also wants two other people, besides the resistance."

She frowned, "Are you trying to tell me that you're with the resistance?"

"Well…" Chess hesitated.

"Oh for heaven's sake, let me explain." I interrupted, shoving Chess aside. "Yes we are part of the resistance, but we very important. I am the Mad Hatter and he," I pointed to Chess who was sulking for being pushed. "Is the Cheshire Cat."

"Way to lay it straight." Chess remarked.

"Well, you were taking too long." I argued.

"I was trying to be careful and sympathetic."

"You're not supposed to delay it, say it straight, like ripping off a band aid." I said back.

"I hate ripping off band aids. Just take it nice and slow pealing it off a bit at a time." I rolled my eyes. "You're just a sissy." We would have argued further but Anna interrupted.

How did we forget about her again? "You two are the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat?" She said voice full of emotion.

What was with her? "Yup." Chess said, "Sorry we had to deceive you."

She shook her head, "All this time…" She murmured. She cleared her throat, "Where's Al-Alice?" Her voice shook.

We looked at her concerned, what was wrong? Then Alice walked in still in her disguise.

"I'm Alice." She said warmly.

"No you're not." Anna said. Wait, how would she know? "No, you're definitely not Alice." Anna said, looking her up and down.

"How would you know?" Alice said skeptically.

"I've met her." She said stubbornly.

"Really," I said. "when?" There was no way she could have met her, we have been in hiding and unless there was an imposter she had never laid her eyes on her before.

A faraway look clouded Anna's vision, "A very long time ago."

"Can you prove it?" Chess said, not wanting to disagree with Anna Rose.

She nodded. "Alice has blonde hair and blue eyes." She was confident.

How could she know that? There was no way possible. Unless…

I voiced my thoughts to Anna. "The only way you could know that is if you were in the human world with her, we haven't encountered any people without being in disguise, besides the incident in Glass Town…"

"You caused that?!" She was outraged. Time to steer the conversation away from that delicate topic.

"…so you must be part of Alice's human life." I paused to let it sink in. The Diggs came in to watch the spectacle. "The only person who would know Alice by name and knows her description was her sister who is dead."

"Unless…" Chess trailed off. "Unless she's not dead."

Alice looked at Anna.

"Raven?"

**I liked this chapter thank you all for your reviews and follows. I'm sorry I haven't been updating regularly. But I'm off of school, so maybe I can find more time. Hope this makes up for the time since I updated.**


	33. Alice?

**Alice P.O.V**

Chess was explaining are unique situation to Anna and I was drinking delicious tea.

I heard the tail end of their conversation.

"You two are the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat?" She said with an odd tone.

What was wrong? "Yup." I heard Chess say, "Sorry we had to deceive you."

She said something low, that I couldn't hear. Then she said "Where's Al-Alice?" Her voice was shaking. What was wrong with her?

I had to go in and see her. I walked in and decided to give her a nice warm welcome. It was probably best if I didn't want to shock her.

"I'm Alice." I said kindly.

"No you're not." Anna said stubbornly. How would she know? "No, you're definitely not Alice." Anna said, looking me up and down.

"How would you know?" I said daring her to contradict me.

"I've met her." She said stubbornly.

"Really," Hatter said. "When?" Hatter was very skeptical. He obviously didn't believe her, but I wanted to hear her answer.

She seemed to stare off into space, "A very long time ago."

"Can you prove it?" Chess said, trying to stay on the side of his girlfriend.

She nodded. "Alice has blonde hair and blue eyes." She was adamant. But how would she know that? Only someone who would know me, someone from the human world possibly. But that was impossible. The only one who would know that would be someone in my family; I didn't have an awful lot of friends.

Raven was the only one who would know these things. But she was probably dead. I pushed that thought away and started singing 'The sun will come out tomorrow' in my head.

Hatter echoed my thoughts.

"The only way you could know that is if you were in the human world with her, we haven't encountered any people without being in disguise, besides the incident in Glass Town…"

"You caused that?!" She was furious. But she had a right to be; after all we brought destruction on her home and probably killed everyone she knew. Hatter knew he was in dangerous water, so he tried to distract her.

"…so you must be part of Alice's human life." He stopped talking for a moment. The Diggs came in to watch the ordeal unfold. "The only person who would know Alice by name and knows her description was her sister who is dead."

"Unless…" Chess trailed off. "Unless she's not dead."

I looked at Anna in a new light. Sure, she looked like Raven and acted a little like Raven but that didn't mean she was Raven, did it?

Was she my sister?

"Raven?"

**Ravens P.O.V**

"Raven?"

My heart stopped. No one had called me Raven in years.

Only Alice would know that. But that didn't make the person in front of me Alice. She looked nothing like Alice.

I was confused. "You're not Alice." I said stubbornly.

The mad Hatter put a hand on the girls shoulder and her appearance changed, rippling until it changed into what my sister looked like ten years ago.

I didn't believe it for a minute. "It's been ten years. Alice would be older. You're not her."

The fake Alice rushed to explain, "No it hasn't, at least not for us, you see when you went down the hole time passed dramatically, with only minutes passing for us in the human world, years would pass in Wonderland. The last time I saw you was just days ago."

My face was hard, "It's been ten years since I saw my sister, I think I need a little more proof."

The fake Alice was thinking, I could tell. She was thinking the same way my sister used to think. Biting he lip and twirling a strand of hair. But that didn't mean she was my sister, it was just a coincidence.

Finally she came to a conclusion, "Um, our parents are Jolie and Rick. I always used to have a nightmare, the one that drove Jolie up a wall. Rick was a physiatrist and the night we left was when Jolie had book club." She spilled out.

O my God. It was Alice.

"Alice?"


	34. Leaving the Diggs house

**I am so sorry. My computer broke. **

**Hopes this makes up for the wait.**

**Disclaimer: I totally own Alice and Wonderland. *heavy sarcasm***

**Raven**

I ran right to my sister and hugged her tightly. Alice hugged me back just as hard. The rest of the room's occupants fidgeted awkwardly during our makeup secession. It had been too long. I can't believe I thought she was dead.

I grinned when we finally let go, I was taller than her now. By at least two or three inches.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Alice asked. I knew what she was talking about. Why hadn't I said my real name, or who I was, or why I looked different?

"This land is a dangerous place. A girl has to do what a girl has to do." I said impassively. "Plus, you had your fair share of secrets. How did I know I could trust you?"

"Why didn't you recognize Chess or Hatter?" Alice said expertly ignoring my rhetorical question.

I smiled wryly. "In case you haven't noticed," I gestured to my adult appearance. "It's been ten years. I only knew him for what… maybe two days?" I said. Seeing someone for only two days and remembering is pretty hard.

"Why do all of you look the same? It's like you haven't aged a day."

Alice nodded understandingly. "I can't believe how grown-up you look." Alice said sadly. I looked down, not wanting to see her face. She had missed me growing up. I tried to put myself in her shoes. Not very long ago her sister "fell" down the rabbit hole to "Wonderland". She followed barely ten minutes later and began her quest. In the process she inadvertently found me aged ten years. It would be a lot to process.

I didn't know if even _I_ could be able to handle it.

"Ahem." Hadley or as I now knew him as Hatter cleared his throat.

Me and Alice both looked up from our stupors and turned to face him. He looked at me for a long time. I mean a reeeally long time; it was starting to get seriously creepy. Finally he said, "You look nothing like the kid that jumped down the rabbit hole."

"Has no one noticed that I grew up?!" I said exasperated.

Hatter shook his head playfully. "Last time I saw you, kid… you were this tall." He held up his hand to show the measurement.

I scowled and shoved him. "Don't call me kid."

"Why not?" He said with an easy grin.

"I'm an adult now. I'm even older then Alice." I said stubbornly. "Besides, how old are you?"

"With or without the time skip?" He asked.

I contemplated for a second, "Both."

He thought for a few moments. "With the time skip I am 36. Without it, 26."

I scowled again and tried to say boldly, "You're only a few years older than me."

"Kid, the key word is _older._" Hatter said with an annoying smirk.

I ground my teeth. Just then Chess came up behind me; I felt my face go hot.

"Don't stoop to his level, a mature person would treat him how he acts." Chess said evenly.

"Don't listen to him kid, you know _I'm _older and way more mature."

I grinned. "Not mentally."

Chess put his arm around me. I swear you could have cooked an egg on my face. Alice looked at Chess and then me and then back at Chess and then at me. I could see the gears moving in her brain.

Her eyes widened. "Oh my God, you guys lik—"

"ALICE!" I interrupted loudly.

"I can't believe my little sister lik- "

"ALICE!" I yelled.

"How long have you been dati—?"

"ALICE!" I screamed, mortified. Chess and I weren't like that. _At least not yet_, my inner thoughts betrayed.

Me and Chess moved away from each other quickly. Now we were both embarrassed. Hatter was smirking and shaking his head. Alice was giggling madly. I frowned, not the ideal situation.

"Ahem?" Someone said.

We all turned and were surprised to find the Diggs still standing there. Oops, forgot about them. Mrs. Diggs cleared her throat again, "You're _the _Alice?" She directed at my sister.

"Yup."

Mrs. Diggs frowned. Somehow I didn't think that the queen of Wonderland should say 'yup'.

"Where have you been all these years?" Mr. Diggs asked.

"Earth." She said proudly.

Both of them frowned, "I don't believe we are familiar with that neck of the woods."

Alice scrunched up her eye brows. "You've never heard of Earth? You know, the human world."

"What is a human?" Mr. Diggs asked.

"Seriously?" Alice said.

Mrs. Diggs made a small noise in her throat. I wish Alice would start acting more regal. She wasn't exactly putting on a very good impression.

Luckily Chess stepped in. "She means the Fuzzie world."

"Ohhhh." The Diggs chorused.

"Why didn't you say so?" Mrs. Diggs asked.

Alice narrowed her eyes. She was getting annoyed, and fast. I quickly tried to ease the tension. "So, Hatter would you tell a little more of your plan?"

"Certainly." He said while eyeing the glaring match between Mrs. Diggs and Alice. He quickly led us back into the kitchen.

"Our first priority is getting to the _heart_ of Wonderland, pun intended." He waited for everyone to start laughing. No one did. It might have been funny at a different time, but with all the stress, no can do.

"Oh, come on people. Lighten up." He pouted.

"Hatter," Chess face palmed. "Please continue." Hatter muttered something about no one having any measureable sense of humor but did as he requested.

"We get our way into her royal court; and I establish my 'feelings' for her." He made a disgusted face and air quoted 'feelings'.

It was my turn to face palm.

"Then at the right opportunity, we strike." He said grimly. Alice coughed quietly. "What do you mean exactly when you say 'strike'?" She said her voice full of innocence.

"You do her in." I said emotionlessly.

She looked decidedly uncomfortable. "Then what?" She said uncertainly.

"You take your rightful place as queen and restore Wonderland to its former glory." Chess exclaimed. Somehow he made it sound so right. I shifted closer to him.

"Um, maybe you guys didn't notice, but I'm no queen." Alice said frankly.

"Obviously." muttered Mrs. Diggs. Her husband shot her a frown.

Not skipping a beat Chess answered. "That's why you have us." He gestured to everyone. He even gave me a special smile when his gaze landed on me. I blushed furiously.

And of course Alice didn't miss that little detail. I could see her smirking through the corner of my eye. I didn't dare meet her gaze.

"We also need to keep moving, or the trackers might find us." Hatter interjected.

"Trackers?" Mr. Diggs said worriedly.

"Yes. They were following us up until we reached the end of the forest. Anna,-I locked eyes with Hatter-I mean Raven, told them we went another way, but I fear they probably figured out there mistake." Hatter stammered when he called me Anna. I smiled insanely. Raven 1, Hatter 0.

Mr. Diggs thought for a second. "When you say trackers…?" He trailed off.

"Cards." I confirmed.

"With machines." Chess added.

Mrs. Diggs sat down with a thump. "Oh dear lord."

Mr. Diggs stayed slightly more composed. "When do suspect they will arrive?"

Hatter hesitated. "Maybe a day…" Mrs. Diggs turned white. "At the least." He quickly reassured.

"Pamela!" She said to her husband.

"I know, but we all chose danger as soon as we joined the resistance."

She looked mad. "Are you saying that you don't care about the safety of our daughter?!"

"Of course not. Don't put words in my mouth."

"Our only daughter. We have to move, or get rid of them!" She shrieked.

"Trisha!" He objected.

Now Mr. Diggs looked mad.

"They could put us all in danger! They— " But she didn't finish.

He flew over to his wife and spoke in hushed tones. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but judging Chess's expression I knew he could. We waited awkwardly until the argument was over. It ended with a curt nod from Mrs. Diggs and her stalking away into another room.

Mr. Diggs sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry. Trisha's just a bit stressed out and worried. Let her cool down for a while."

"She is right, sir." Alice said.

"What?" His tone indicated surprise.

"Your family is in danger. We should move as soon as possible." Mr. Diggs was about to object, but Chess stopped him.

"We do have to move. We don't want to be responsible for anything that could happen to your family."

I nodded my assent.

Mr. Diggs sighed again. "Alright. When do you wish to leave?"

Hatter shrugged, "How about now?"

"Now?" Chess asked.

"What else can they do?"

Chess pondered for a moment and also shrugged.

"Then it's settled." Alice said. "Let's go."

We gathered all of our things and marched out the door.

Alice came up behind me and laced my fingers with hers.

"We have a lot to talk about." She told me.

I grinned. Yes we did.

**I'm sorry. My computer broke and when I got it fixed, I didn't feel like writing. I know this isn't lost but I'm hoping to get some ideas soon. So stay tuned. Thank you for anyone who has stuck with this story so far.**

**_Frowning Cheshire Cat.**


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